Independent Contractor Linux Administrator Jobs Near Me

Battelle delivers when others can't. We conduct research and development, manage national laboratories, design and manufacture products and deliver critical services for our clients-whether they are a multi-national corporation, a small start-up or a government agency.
We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.
Job Summary
Battelle's Cyber Business Line is seeking a mid-level Linux Infrastructure Administrator to help operate and grow an airgapped, multi-site research network supporting 70+ scientists and engineers. This role spans the full infrastructure stack-virtualization, identity, storage, networking, automation, and observability-within a petabyte-scale environment working toward CMMC Level 2 compliance.
As a Linux Infrastructure Administrator, you will work within a small, agile infrastructure team with broad ownership of the systems researchers depend on every day. This includes supporting enterprise virtualization, storage, networking, security hardening, automation, and GPU-enabled environments for offline AI/ML workloads. You will have the opportunity to design, automate, and improve infrastructure in a highly mission-focused, closed-network environment.
Location / Work Arrangement

• Location: Columbus, Ohio
• Employment Type: Full-time
• Work Arrangement: Primarily on-site in a closed-network research environment
• Schedule: Flexible, compressed work schedule with every other Friday off

Responsibilities

• Administer Linux domain services including identity, authentication, DNS/NTP, and certificate services across an airgapped, multi-site environment.
• Build, deploy, and maintain virtual machines and services on enterprise virtualization platforms such as VMware, Proxmox, Nutanix, or similar technologies.
• Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks and provisioning workflows for repeatable, automated system configuration.
• Administer enterprise storage infrastructure including NAS platforms, network file shares, and object storage.
• Support network operations including VLAN segmentation, enterprise firewall rule management, site-to-site VPN, and remote-access VPN.
• Deploy and operate containerized services and support migration of core services to a container orchestration platform.
• Implement and maintain security hardening, patching, file integrity monitoring, and audit logging in a disconnected environment.
• Support compliance activities aligned to CMMC Level 2 / NIST SP 800-171, including evidence collection and configuration baselines.
• Collaborate closely with researchers and technical staff to improve reliability, automation, and usability of shared infrastructure.

Key Qualifications

• Experience with Linux systems administration in an enterprise or research environment.
• Experience with Linux domain administration, identity or directory services, centralized authentication, and host lifecycle management.
• Knowledge of networking fundamentals including TCP/IP, VLANs, firewalls, VPNs, and multi-site architectures.
• Experience with configuration management and automation tools such as Ansible, Puppet, Chef, or Salt.
• Experience with containerization and container orchestration technologies.
• Storage administration experience including RAID, volume management, network file shares, backup, and recovery.
• Strong Python and Bash scripting fundamentals.
• Virtualization experience with enterprise hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V, KVM-based platforms, or similar technologies.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience administering airgapped, disconnected, or classified networks, including offline mirrors, removable-media transfer, and manual patch workflows.
• STIG, CIS benchmark, or other compliance baselining experience; familiarity with NIST SP 800-171 / CMMC.
• Identity and access management experience including directory services, LDAP/Kerberos, SSO/OIDC, PKI, and hardware-token deployment.
• Distributed NAS administration experience.
• Database administration experience in relational and/or search and analytics platforms.
• Monitoring and SIEM experience including metrics and dashboarding, log aggregation, and host-based intrusion detection.
• Experience with CI/CD and artifact management including pipelines, container registries, and offline package mirrors.
• Experience with bare-metal and golden-image provisioning tooling.
• Experience supporting GPU compute clusters or self-hosted AI/ML inference workloads.
• Experience establishing, writing, and enforcing infrastructure policy.
• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight.
• Relevant certifications such as RHCSA, CompTIA Linux+, or Security+ (DoD 8570 IAT Level II).

Some of the Extras That Make Working Here Great

• Flexible, compressed work schedule with every other Friday off
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with wellness incentives
• 401(k) retirement savings plan with employer contributions
• Tuition assistance for higher education
• Professional development opportunities and Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program participation

Compensation Data
Battelle is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The salary range for this role is $110,000 - $140,000, in addition to our comprehensive benefits package. A candidate's salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to education, relevant work experience, skills, and certifications. Salary ranges may vary based on geographic location and market conditions.
Benefits: Live an Extraordinary Life
We care about your well-being, not just on the job. Battelle offers comprehensive and competitive benefits to help you live your best life.

• Balance life through a compressed work schedule: Most of our team follows a flexible, compressed work schedule that allows for every other Friday off-giving you a dedicated day to accomplish things in your personal life without using vacation time.
• Enjoy enhanced work flexibility, including a hybrid arrangement: You have options for where and when you work. Our Together with Flexibility model allows you to work 60% in-office and 40% remote, with Monday and Tuesday as common in-office days, dependent on team and position needs .
• Take time to recharge: You get paid time off to support work-life balance and keep motivated.
• Prioritize wellness: Stay healthy with medical, dental, and vision coverage with wellness incentives and benefits plus a variety of optional supplemental benefits.
• Better together: Coverage for partners, gender-affirming care and health support, and family formation support.
• Build your financial future: Build financial stability with an industry-leading 401(k) retirement savings plan. For most employees, we put in 5 percent whether you contribute or not, and match your contributions on top of that.
• Advance your education: Tuition assistance is available to pursue higher education.

A Work Environment Where You Succeed
For brilliant minds in science, technology, engineering and business operations, Battelle is the place to do the greatest good by solving humanity's most pressing challenges and creating a safer, healthier and more secure world.
You will have the opportunity to thrive in a culture that inspires you to:

• Apply your talent to challenging and meaningful projects
• Receive select funding to pursue ideas in scientific and technological discovery
• Partner with world-class experts in a collaborative environment
• Nurture and develop the next generation of scientific leaders
• Give back to and improve our communities

Vaccinations & Safety Protocols
Battelle may require employees, based on job duties, work location, and/or its clients' requirements to follow certain safety protocols and to be vaccinated against a variety of viruses, bacteria, and diseases as a condition of employment and continued employment and to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated. If applicable, Battelle will provide reasonable accommodations based on a qualified disability or medical condition through the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act or for a sincerely held religious belief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and related state laws).
Battelle is an equal opportunity employer. We provide employment and opportunities for advancement, compensation, training, and growth according to individual merit, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, genetic information, disability, veteran-status veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable Federal, state, or local law. Our goal is for each staff member to have the opportunity to grow to the limits of their abilities and to achieve personal and organizational objectives. We will support positive programs for equal treatment of all staff and full utilization of all qualified employees at all levels within Battelle.
The above statements are intended to describe the nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, activities and skills required of staff members. No statement herein is intended to imply any authorities to commit Battelle unless special written permission is granted by Battelle's Legal Department.
For more information about our other openings, please visit www.battelle.org/careers