IT specialist, linux
London, GB
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.
Why we need this role
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.
What you'll do
- 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.
What we're looking for
- Extensive experience in Linux system administration (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu).
- 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).
Leadership & Behavioural Skills
- 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 Qualifications
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Familiarity with containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Certifications such as RHCE, LFCS, LFCE, or security related credentials.
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- Linux administration experience, ideally within a large scale or enterprise environment.
Skills
What we offer you:
Looking to make a mark?
At Colt, you’ll make a difference. Because around here, we empower people. We don’t tell you what to do.
Instead, we employ people we trust, who come together across the globe to create intelligent solutions.
Our global teams are full of ambitious, driven people, all working together towards one shared purpose: to put the power of the digital universe in the hands of our customers wherever, whenever and however they want.
We give our people the opportunity to inspire and lead teams, and work on projects that connect people, cities, businesses, and ideas. We want you to help us change the world, for the better.
Diversity and inclusion
- Inclusion and valuing diversity of thought and experience are at the heart of our culture here at Colt. From day one, you’ll be encouraged to be yourself because we believe that’s what helps our people to thrive. We welcome people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, regardless of their gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, neurodiversity, age, marital status, pregnancy status, or place of birth.
Most recently we have:
- Signed the UN Women Empowerment Principles which guide our Gender Action Plan
- Trained 60 (and growing) Colties to be Mental Health First Aiders
- Please speak with a member of our recruitment team if you require adjustments to our recruitment process to support you. For more information about our Inclusion and Diversity agenda, visit our DEI pages.
Benefits
Our benefits support you through all parts of life, for both physical and mental health.
- Flexible working hours and the option to work from home.
- Extensive induction program with experienced mentors and buddies.
- Opportunities for further development and educational opportunities.
- Global Family Leave Policy.
- Employee Assistance Program.
- Internal inclusion & diversity employee networks.
A global network
- When you join Colt you become part of our global network. We are proud of our colleagues and the stories and experience they bring – take a look at ‘Our People’ site including our Empowered Women in Tech.
Job Segment:
Linux, Open Source, System Administrator, Compliance, Database, Technology, Legal