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Linux Infrastructure Engineer Jobs in California

Lead Linux Kernels Engineer with C, ARM experience needed for US software companies. We have a key ... redundant Linux infrastructure Knowledge on o/s satellite mgmt, authentication (qmx), apache ...

Lead Linux Kernels Engineer with C, ARM experience needed for US software companies. We have a key ... Design, implementation and administration of highly available and redundant Linux infrastructure

Linux Infrastructure Engineering: Maintain, tune, and secure mission-critical Linux operating systems across production and non-production environments. End-to-End Automation: Lead infrastructure ...

Company Description IT Role: R&D Linux Engineer Location: San Diego, CA or San Jose, CA Duration ... Responsibilities Install and configure systems which support Red hat Linux infrastructure and/or R& ...

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Linux Infrastructure Engineer information

See California salary details

$45.9K

$125.4K

$179.6K

How much do linux infrastructure engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for linux infrastructure engineer in California is $125,402.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $106,100.00 and $139,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a Linux Infrastructure Engineer?

Linux Infrastructure Engineers are IT professionals who design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot Linux-based systems and servers that form the backbone of an organization's IT infrastructure. Their responsibilities include managing server deployments, ensuring system security and stability, automating processes, and supporting cloud or on-premises environments. They often work closely with development and operations teams to optimize performance and reliability, making sure that critical business applications run smoothly on Linux platforms.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Linux Infrastructure Engineer?

To thrive as a Linux Infrastructure Engineer, you need deep expertise in Linux system administration, networking, scripting languages, and often a degree in computer science or related fields. Familiarity with tools like Ansible, Docker, Kubernetes, and monitoring systems, as well as certifications such as RHCE or CompTIA Linux+, are highly valued. Strong problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and effective communication help you collaborate with teams and resolve infrastructure issues efficiently. These skills are critical for ensuring system stability, scalability, and security within complex IT environments.

What are some common challenges Linux Infrastructure Engineers face when managing large-scale server environments?

Linux Infrastructure Engineers often encounter challenges such as ensuring high availability and reliability across numerous servers, managing configuration drift, and automating repetitive tasks. Security is also a significant concern, requiring constant monitoring for vulnerabilities and timely patching. Additionally, troubleshooting and resolving issues in a distributed environment can be complex, often necessitating strong collaboration with development, security, and networking teams to maintain seamless operations.

What is the difference between Linux Infrastructure Engineer vs System Administrator?

AspectLinux Infrastructure EngineerSystem Administrator
CertificationsLinux certifications (e.g., RHCE, CompTIA Linux+)CompTIA A+, Network+, Linux certifications often preferred
Work EnvironmentDesigning, implementing, and maintaining Linux-based infrastructureManaging and supporting IT systems, including servers and networks
ResponsibilitiesBuilding scalable Linux systems, scripting, automationMonitoring, troubleshooting, user support

While both roles involve Linux systems, a Linux Infrastructure Engineer focuses on designing and deploying Linux infrastructure, whereas a System Administrator manages day-to-day operations and support. The engineer role is more project-oriented, while the administrator role emphasizes maintenance and troubleshooting.

What are popular job titles related to Linux Infrastructure Engineer jobs in California?

For Linux Infrastructure Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Linux Infrastructure Engineer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Linux Infrastructure Engineer jobs in California are:

Infographic showing various Linux Infrastructure Engineer job openings in California as of September 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 86% Full Time, 10% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 84% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 11% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $125,402 per year, or $60.3 per hour.

Linux Infrastructure Engineer

San Diego, CA • On-site

General Atomics
Space Research Administration • 10K+ employees

Full-time

Posted 7 days ago


General Atomics rating

9.0

Company rating: 9.0 out of 10

Based on 39 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz


Job description

Job Summary
General Atomics (GA), and its affiliated companies, is one of the world's leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.
With consultative direction within the Core Services group, this position is responsible for architecting, optimizing, and maintaining a high-velocity, on-premises Linux data pipeline supporting real-time, AI-driven machine learning models for the DIII-D national fusion reactor program.
As a hands-on technical practitioner, you will manage bare-metal deployments, orchestrate high-availability parallel storage arrays, and troubleshoot ultra-low-latency network protocols across a heavily segmented, secure infrastructure. This role focuses on deep, OS-level infrastructure and physical data center operations, bridging the gap between raw hardware capabilities and mission-critical scientific computing.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Bare-Metal & OS Administration: Plan, manage, and optimize day-to-day operations of on-premises, physical x86 and GPU server infrastructure running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
  • High-Velocity Networking: Provision and troubleshoot core network sharing protocols (NFS) and ultra-low-latency networking hardware supporting 100GbE backbones and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCEv2).
  • Operational Technology (OT) Security: Maintain and fortify a heavily firewalled, push-only segmented internal network architecture, ensuring strict "Deny All Inbound" rules protect sensitive reactor control systems.
  • Storage Architecture Lifecycle: Build, configure, and maintain high-density NVMe storage tiers and software-defined, parallel filesystems (BeeGFS/ZFS) to handle massive multi-gigabyte payload dumps with zero ingestion bottlenecks.
  • Performance & I/O Benchmarking: Conduct granular system-level I/O benchmarking, diagnose deep kernel-level platform anomalies, and implement kernel parameter tuning to maximize data velocity and prevent data loss.
  • Automation & Provisioning: Develop and maintain automated infrastructure workflows and configuration management frameworks using Bash shell scripting and Ansible to streamline bare-metal node deployment and environment validation.
  • Data Center Operations: Manage physical data center footprints, including high-density server rack layouts, equipment delivery, hardware diagnostics, power infrastructure/UPS, and asset lifecycle tracking.
  • Collaborative Consultation: Act as a technical infrastructure expert, guiding the development of innovative solutions to unique computing challenges for data acquisition systems and scientific teams.
  • Vendor & Planning Coordination: Analyze new hardware architectures, engineer custom hardware Bill of Materials (BOM) alongside OEMs/ODMs, and represent the organization as a primary technical contact with suppliers.
  • Compliance & Safety: Observe all laws, regulations, and facility safety obligations, ensuring that all system upgrades and physical data center modifications are designed with established personnel operating procedures properly considered.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.
Job Qualifications
Required Core Skills:
  • Typically requires a bachelor's degree in information technology or a related discipline and fifteen or more years of progressive professional experience in an information technology department primarily in systems administration. May substitute equivalent working experience in the field in lieu
  • Expert Linux Skills: Detailed and extensive technical expertise in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system design, installation, configuration, and low-level kernel troubleshooting.
  • Storage Mastery: Proven hands-on experience implementing, configuring, and performance-tuning ZFS, RAID, and LVM storage structures.
  • Networking Fundamentals: Comprehensive understanding of TCP/IP networking, host-based firewalls, network bonding, and debugging network sharing protocols across segmented topologies.
  • Automation Background: Demonstrated proficiency writing advanced automation scripts in Bash or Python, coupled with configuration management toolsets (Ansible).
  • Physical Infrastructure Competency: Direct experience handling physical server deployment, rack configuration, hardware component replacement, and diagnostic testing within an enterprise data center environment.

Preferred (Nice-to-Have) Pipeline Skills:
  • Familiarity with High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster environments and workload scheduling managers (e.g., SLURM, PBS Pro).
  • Experience configuring or administering parallel file systems (e.g., BeeGFS).
  • Familiarity with distributed, event-driven streaming architectures or message brokers (e.g., Apache Kafka).
  • Familiarity with in-memory data structures or caching layers (e.g., Redis).
  • Experience with open-source hypervisors and virtualization platforms (e.g., Proxmox).
  • Exposure to GPU computing clusters and high-performance environments (e.g., NVIDIA/Mellanox).

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About General Atomics

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

General Atomics (GA), and its affiliated companies, is one of the world's leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.

Industry

Space research administration

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

San Diego, CA, US

Year founded

1955