Associate Linux Systems & Datacenter Infrastructure Engineer

Associate Linux Systems & Datacenter Infrastructure Engineer

Innovative Defense Technologies (
IDT
) is a leading defense software company seeking an Associate Linux Systems & Datacenter Infrastructure Engineer to support our office in Fall River, Massachusetts. This role requires a foundation in technology through a degree or dedicated personal technical projects and is defined by a relentless drive for knowledge. Technical proficiency can be taught, but a motivation to understand how systems work under the hood cannot.

If you actively seek complex technical challenges, build home labs, push past surface-level answers, and are highly motivated to kickstart a career in enterprise‑scale cloud infrastructure, you are the right fit for this team.

In this role, you will bridge the gap between academic or personal technology projects and advanced datacenter engineering. You will support day‑to‑day operations of our private cloud services under the mentorship of senior engineers, handling immediate tactical infrastructure needs. While your career path here will involve deep‑dive software development, kernel optimization, and advanced architectures, you will immediately execute daily operations—ranging from physical server deployments to basic workflow automation—while absorbing the advanced skills required to design, secure, and maintain complex diskless VMware and centralized storage environments.

• All applicants must currently possess an active Secret U.S. Security Clearance.
• This is an on‑site position requiring at least 5 days in the office, based out of our Fall River, MA location.

$70,000 - $116,000 / year.

• Datacenter Operations & Systems Deployment:
  Assist with building, racking, stacking, and bringing new enterprise physical server systems online. Learn cabinet physical layouts, including running and terminating high‑density network and power cabling.
• Systems Administration & Support:
  Handle daily operational sysadmin tasks, including account provisioning, access controls, permissions management, and infrastructure triage.
• Hardware Diagnostics & Triage:
  Learn to troubleshoot and resolve physical hardware component failures (drives, memory, power supplies) across enterprise server stacks.
• Basic Network Connectivity:
  Troubleshoot localized physical and logical connection issues (checking links, verifying IP assignments, basic ping/trace route diagnostics).
• Automation & Scripting:
  Identify repetitive manual tasks and build out automated solutions using shell scripting (Bash) or Python to streamline routine administrative workflows.
• System Security Compliance:
  Assist with system hardening, vulnerability remediation, and applying security patches to maintain strict system integrity.
• Technical Upskilling:
  Actively shadow senior engineering staff to master the Linux boot process, custom image generation, enterprise virtualization (VMware), and central storage architectures.
• Team Dynamics:
  Contribute to a vibrant team atmosphere built on camaraderie, mutual support, and a shared commitment to excellence, balancing hard work with community and fun.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, information systems, computer engineering, or related field of engineering, or equivalent hands‑on technical background.
• 0-2 years of experience (relevant internships, dedicated university lab work, or complex personal technical projects will be heavily considered).
• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time as needed.
• Physical capability and willingness to work hands‑on in a physical datacenter environment (racking equipment, lifting servers, running cable runs).
• Demonstrated ability to shift from one project to another in an agile work environment.
• Ability to communicate technical approaches and details within small project teams.
• Ability to capture technical approaches, designs, block diagrams, and implementations in written and graphical form.

• High Motivation & Curiosity: A strong internal drive to learn advanced infrastructure concepts and apply them practically.
• Personal Technical Projects:
  Experience…