Senior Engineer, Systems (Unix/Linux)

Are you looking for more than just a job and want to make difference? If so, then join the National Student Clearinghouse talent community and discover your impact today!We are a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization and the leading provider of educational reporting, data exchange, verification, and research services. Serving the education, workforce and learner communities has been at the heart of our mission for over 30 years. Our work performed in a trusted, secure, and private environment provides numerous time- and cost-saving benefits to students, schools, administrators, and requestors. Education leaders rely on the Clearinghouse's unique national student data resources to better understand student pathways and outcomes in order to help students succeed, and our research better informs practitioners and policymakers about student educational pathways and enables informed decision making.About the Role:Do you enjoy being a key contributor in a digital modernization effort to re-engineer and migrate Infrastructure from on-premise to a hybrid cloud Unix/Linux environment? Do you want to tap your technical skills and experience to implement innovative Unix/Linux Infrastructure solutions and solving technical problems? The Senior Engineer will work as part of a team responsible for all aspects of systems administration, including installing, configuring, testing, and supporting the Clearinghouse's Unix/Linux application servers, and Cloud /Network Infrastructure. The Senior Engineer will work with the team to ensure that all hardware is running the most current supported version of software and firmware and follows the Clearinghouse Systems Security standards. The Senior Engineer will assist in monitoring the Cloud and On-premise Systems and will apply analytic and diagnostic skills in determining problem resolution and root cause analysis. The incumbent will research emerging technologies and make recommendations to IT Leadership on operational activities and project delivery. The ideal candidate has the passion for learning new technologies to provide end-to-end technical solutions while acting as a mentor to other team members.Currently, this is a remote-first position, and this position may be required to periodically work on-site at our office and the frequency would depend on the department/division's requirements. Therefore, candidates must either reside within a reasonable distance to commute to our office or be willing to travel to our office in Herndon, when required.How You Contribute:

Demonstrate NSC's competencies, which align with our corporate values. Manager will provide more detail to candidates as needed.

Core Competencies include: Customer Focus, Optimizes Work Processes, Collaborates, Communicates Effectively, and Be Open and Authentic.

Customer Focus:

Provide technical solutions to a wide range of problems and user requests through Operational procedures and project delivery.

Administer access, rights, and privileges to Clearinghouse staff in on-premise and hybrid cloud environments (ex. Oracle Linux, Oracle and VMware virtualization, CentOS, Lenovo x86 Hardware, IBM AIX, IBM Power Hardware, AWS).

Monitor system components and application processing to proactively identify incidents, resolve issues, and participate in root cause analysis.

Configure, maintain, and analyze infrastructure within Unix/Linux environments using:

Shell scripting language (ex. Bash, Python)

Linux and Unix Operating systems (ex. Oracle Linux/CentOS, IBM AIX)

Conducts system security engineering activities including install, monitor, and tune Unix/Linux Server operating system software and virtual machine sub-system software.

Follows best practices when applying patch/vulnerability management in the Unix/Linux environments.

Provide technical solutions to a wide range of problems and user requests through Opera ional procedures and project delivery.

Provide Unix/Linux support to internal Developers, Enterprise Data Management, and Researchers.

Proactively maintain and develop all Unix/Linux infrastructure to maintain a 24x7x365 uptime service

Proactively monitoring system performance and capacity planning

Upgrade and configure system software that supports infrastructure applications, enterprise projects, and operational activities.

Optimizes Work Processes:

Ensure all application services are monitored and performance meets or exceeds established SLAs.

Develop and deploy automation infrastructure using the Shell scripting and/or CI/CD automation tools.

Participate in Unix/Linux hardware and software optimization strategies, budget planning, governance, and reporting.

Maintain and update relevant system and process documentation and develop ad-hoc reports as needed.

Participate in Disaster Recovery exercises and continuous improvement processes.

Provide input on ways to improve the stability, security, efficiency, and scalability of the environment

Collaborates:

Actively participate in the re-engineering and migration of on-premise Unix/Linux applications to a hybrid cloud environment.

Support Unix/Linux applications in a hybrid cloud environment comprised of custom-built applications, SaaS solutions, and open-source components.

Work in tandem with Cybersecurity to improve cloud-based infrastructure-related services and influencing teams to incorporate security best practices.

Create system documentation (e.g., network/system schematics, daily operational procedures, disaster recovery procedures, and checklists) for both on-premise and cloud hosted systems.

Mentor Junior Unix/Linux Administrators, when needed.

Communicates Effectively:

Develop, implement, and document formal configuration guides as needed.

Practice attentive and active listening and express ideas clearly and in a diplomatic manner in conversations and interactions with others.

Communicate solutions and concerns to management and stakeholders concisely and with urgency.

Willingly share expertise and important or relevant information with team members.

Display excellent communication skills and effectively communicate technical and nontechnical messages to all levels of staff.

Be Open and Authentic:

Establish and maintain a strong working relationship with all team members.

Demonstrate openness to new perspectives and ideas.

Position may be required to perform other duties as required.These essential functions are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.What You Bring to the Table:Bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science or other related technical field or some equivalent combination of education and experience, including through military service will also be considered.10+ years of overall IT experience and 5+ years of experience supporting Unix/Linux IT infrastructure and cloud (AWS and Oracle Cloud).Expert knowledge of shell scripting languages (ex. BASH, Korn, Python, JSON) to automate the Unix/Linux infrastructure to create and modify Unix/