Linux & Proxmox Systems Administrator

About AOI

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical and HFC networking products — the building blocks that power AI datacenters, CATV broadband, telecom, and fiber access networks around the world. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, AOI is a vertically integrated company that designs and manufactures everything from semiconductor laser chips to finished optical transceivers, serving tier-one customers across cloud computing, broadband, and telecom.

With R&D operations in Atlanta, GA and global manufacturing presence in Taiwan and China, AOI is publicly traded on the Nasdaq (AAOI) and is actively expanding its U.S.

-based manufacturing operations in Sugar Land to meet accelerating demand in the AI datacenter market.

AOI is seeking a hands-on Linux & Proxmox Systems Administrator to manage, maintain, secure, and improve our Linux server and virtualized infrastructure supporting our growing IT operations. This role will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of Proxmox VE environments, Linux systems, virtual machines and containers, storage, backups, monitoring, automation, and related infrastructure while helping ensure availability, performance, and security.

The ideal candidate combines strong Linux systems administration fundamentals with practical Proxmox experience and the ability to troubleshoot across virtualization, storage, networking, and operating system layers. This person should be comfortable working independently, improving existing environments, automating repetitive work, and partnering across IT teams to maintain reliable infrastructure in a fast-paced, on-site manufacturing environment.

• Install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Linux servers across production and development environments.

• Deploy, configure, and manage Proxmox VE clusters, including cluster nodes, quorum, high availability (HA), QEMU/KVM virtual machines, and LXC containers.

• Create, migrate, snapshot, back up, and restore virtual machines and containers while monitoring resource utilization and optimizing performance.

• Manage storage technologies integrated with Proxmox VE, including Ceph, ZFS, NFS, iSCSI, and SAN/NAS storage.

• Maintain and upgrade Proxmox VE clusters and supporting infrastructure as needed.

• Proactively monitor system health, performance, availability, and security; diagnose and resolve hardware, software, virtualization, storage, and network issues.

• Implement and maintain security best practices, including system hardening, firewall configuration, security updates, and regular patch management.

• Develop and maintain automation using Bash, Python, Ansible, or similar tools to streamline repetitive administration, configuration, and deployment tasks.

• Plan, implement, and regularly test backup and disaster recovery processes to support data integrity and business continuity.

• Create and maintain documentation covering system configurations, architecture, operating procedures, and troubleshooting processes.

• Collaborate with development, network, security, and other IT teams to support infrastructure requirements, projects, and new systems and services.

• Provide advanced technical support for Linux systems and virtualized infrastructure, including system onboarding and critical incident response.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

• 3+ years of professional Linux systems administration experience, including proven hands-on experience with Proxmox VE.

• Experience administering Proxmox VE clusters, including high availability (HA), backup and restore, and storage integration (Ceph, ZFS, NFS, or iSCSI).

• Experience managing virtual machines and LXC containers, including migration, snapshots, and performance tuning.

• Strong knowledge of Linux operating systems, including kernel tuning, boot processes, and package management.

• P…