About this role
POSITION OVERVIEW We are seeking a highly experienced Red Hat Linux Administrator with strong expertise in SQL database administration and Ansible automation to join our enterprise infrastructure team. This role is responsible for the reliable operation, security, performance, and continuous improvement of our Linux server estate — spanning on-premises RHEL environments, hybrid cloud deployments, and database platforms. The ideal candidate combines deep systems administration skills with the automation mindset of a modern DevOps practitioner, leveraging Ansible to eliminate manual toil, enforce configuration consistency, and accelerate delivery of infrastructure at scale. RHCSA/RHCE certification is essential; experience with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is highly valued. THREE PILLARS OF THE ROLE Red Hat Linux Administration RHEL 8 / 9 system management Performance tuning & optimisation Security hardening & SELinux Storage, LVM & filesystem mgmt Patch & lifecycle management ️ SQL & Database Administration MySQL & PostgreSQL admin Query writing & optimisation Backup, restore & replication Schema design & data integrity Performance monitoring & tuning Ansible Automation Playbook & role development Ansible Automation Platform Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) Configuration drift remediation CI/CD pipeline integration HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED 0 99.9% Linux server uptime SLA Mean Time to Recover (MTTR) IT Infrastructure Department > 80% Infra tasks automated via Ansible KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Red Hat Enterprise Linux Administration Install, configure, and maintain RHEL 8 / 9 systems across physical, virtual (VMware / KVM), and cloud (AWS / Azure) environments at enterprise scale. Manage system performance tuning using tuned profiles, sysctl parameters, CPU/memory/IO analysis with tools such as sar, top, vmstat, iostat, and perf. Administer storage infrastructure including LVM (logical volume management), XFS/ext4 filesystems, NFS/CIFS mounts, multipath I/O, and disk quota management. Configure and maintain high-availability clustering using Pacemaker / Corosync and Red Hat Cluster Suite for mission-critical workloads. Own the Linux patching lifecycle — planning, scheduling, testing, and applying errata using Red Hat Satellite / RHSM and subscription management. Implement and maintain user and group management, PAM authentication, LDAP/AD integration (SSSD, Kerberos, Winbind), and sudo policy governance. Manage and troubleshoot systemd services, journald logging, rsyslog, logrotate, and centralized log shipping to SIEM platforms. Security Hardening & Compliance Implement and enforce SELinux policies (targeted / enforcing mode), manage file contexts, port labels, and audit rule sets for all managed systems. Configure and maintain firewalld zones, rich rules, and iptables as required to restrict network access per security zoning policies. Apply CIS Red Hat Linux Benchmarks, DISA STIG hardening guidelines, and internal security baselines across the server estate via Ansible. Manage OpenSSL certificates, SSH key governance, PKI integration, and secrets management (HashiCorp Vault / Red Hat Secrets Manager). Conduct regular vulnerability scanning (OpenSCAP, Nessus, Qualys), interpret scan results, and drive remediation within agreed SLAs. Maintain system audit trails with auditd, generate compliance reports, and support internal and external security audit processes. Ansible Automation & Infrastructure-as-Code Design, develop, and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and collections for OS provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, and patching. Build and manage Ansible Automation Platform (AAP / AWX) — job templates, inventories, credentials, workflows, and RBAC policies. Implement idempotent, reusable Ansible roles using best practices: variable precedence, handlers, tags, conditionals, and Jinja2 templating. Develop dynamic inventories integrating with VMware vCenter, AWS EC2, Azure Resource Manager, and Red Hat Satellite as authoritative sources of truth. Integrate Ansible with CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) for automated infrastructure testing and deployment workflows. Enforce configuration drift detection and remediation using scheduled Ansible playbook runs and compliance-as-code frameworks. Maintain Ansible code in Git repositories with structured branching strategies, peer code review, and automated linting (ansible-lint, yamllint). ️ SQL & Database Administration Install, configure, and administer MySQL and PostgreSQL database instances on RHEL, including multi-instance setups, replication, and failover configurations. Write, review, and optimise complex SQL queries, stored procedures, functions, and triggers to support application and reporting requirements. Design and maintain database schemas, indexes, partitioning strategies, and data archival policies aligned to performance and retention objectives. Implement and manage database backup strategies — logical (mysqldump, pg_dump) and physical (Percona XtraBackup, Barman) — with verified restore testing. Monitor database performance using slow query logs, EXPLAIN plans, pg_stat views, and Performance Schema; resolve bottlenecks proactively. Manage database security including user access control, role-based permissions, SSL/TLS connections, and database audit logging. Automate routine DBA tasks (backups, index rebuilds, statistics updates, space monitoring) via Ansible playbooks and cron-driven shell scripts. Scripting, Monitoring & Automation Write and maintain Bash and Python shell scripts for system administration tasks, log parsing, health checks, and custom monitoring integrations. Deploy and manage infrastructure monitoring using tools such as Zabbix, Nagios, Prometheus + Grafana, or Red Hat Insights for real-time system visibility. Configure alerting thresholds, es