IT specialist, linux

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Colt provides network, voice and data centre services to thousands of businesses around the world, allowing them to focus on delivering their business goals instead of the underlying infrastructure.

We are seeking a highly skilled Linux Engineer who will act as a technical subject matter expert within the Linux Engineering team. The role is accountable for designing, implementing, supporting, and optimising the Linux infrastructure that underpins critical business applications. The successful candidate will work as part of a team supporting approximately 4000 Linux systems, contributing to technology roadmaps, automation initiatives, operational excellence and continuous improvement.

This role requires deep technical expertise, strong troubleshooting skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with architecture, security, and operations teams across the organisation.

• Serve as a senior technical expert for Linux systems, providing advanced engineering support and guidance.
• Contribute to the definition and implementation of technology roadmaps for Linux infrastructure and associated services.
• Develop and maintain operating procedures to ensure secure, stable, and efficient system management.
• Design and implement solutions that meet security, compliance, resilience and high availability requirements.
• Drive automation using Ansible and other tools to streamline operational tasks and reduce manual effort.
• Lead complex troubleshooting activities across Linux platforms and integrated technologies.
• Support patching, hardening, and configuration management activities aligned to security and compliance standards.
• Work closely with security and compliance teams to ensure adherence to regulatory frameworks and internal controls.
• Support and enhance DNS and identity management solutions, including Red Hat and Oracle LDAP.
• Develop and maintain documentation for engineering solutions, operational processes, and compliance audits.
• Participate in the Infrastructure Operations on-call rota to provide out of hours support for priority incidents.

• Expert knowledge of Ansible and automation frameworks.
• Strong understanding of DNS and identity management, including LDAP (Red Hat and Oracle).
• Experience designing or supporting high availability and disaster recovery solutions.
• Deep understanding of security frameworks and compliance standards (e.g., ISO 27001, CIS benchmarks).
• Proficiency in scripting (Bash, Python) and infrastructure as code principles.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem solving skills.
• Excellent communication skills for working with engineering, architecture, and operations teams.

Desirable Skills & Knowledge

• Not directly responsible for these platforms, but experience is highly beneficial due to cross team collaboration.
• Working knowledge of Windows Server environments.
• Familiarity with enterprise storage technologies (e.g., SAN, NAS).
• Understanding of virtualisation platforms (e.g., VMware, KVM).
• Knowledge of Oracle Databases and how they integrate with Linux.
• Awareness of Kubernetes concepts and operational workflows.
• Understanding of containerisation technologies (e.g., Docker, Podman).
• Experience with both on premise and cloud environments, including Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

• Ownership & Accountability:
  Takes responsibility for delivering high quality technical outcomes.
• Technical Leadership:
  Provides guidance and expertise across projects and engineering activities without formal line management.
• Outcome Driven:
  Focused on delivering measurable, reliable, and secure results.
• Strategic Thinking:
  Contributes to technology decisions aligned with broader IT and business strategy.
• Communication:
  Communicates clearly with technical and non technical stakeholders.
• Collaboration:
  
  Builds strong working relationships with architecture, security, operations, and application teams.
• Adaptability:
  Performs effectively in a dynamic, fast paced environment.
• Continuous Improvement:
  Identifies opportunities for optimisation, automation, and innovation.

Preferred…