Senior Linux Engineer (AU)

Location: Sydney, Australia

Department: C2 Linux Product

About the role

DroneShield is seeking a Senior Linux Engineer to design, build, and scale the next generation of our Linux-based devices and operating environments. This role is ideal for an engineer who is passionate about lean, hardened, purpose-built Linux systems that operate reliably for years in mission-critical deployments around the world.

You will work within a deeply technical team responsible for architecting, hardening, and maintaining DroneShield’s Linux distributions across multiple hardware platforms. From hardware bring-up through production images and atomic field updates, you will contribute to a secure, reproducible, and observable Linux platform that scales across diverse hardware and demanding operational environments.

This is a hands-on engineering role with significant ownership, contributing directly to the architecture, build systems, security posture, and operational robustness of DroneShield’s Linux platforms.

Responsibilities, Duties and Expectations 

• Own the lifecycle of next-generation Linux devices: from initial hardware bring-up through production images and in-field update flows
• Architect and customise a Linux distribution tailored to specific hardware platforms and operational constraints
• Lead and mentor a high-impact Linux engineering team, setting standards and driving technical excellence
• Contribute to the full lifecycle of DroneShield Linux platforms, from hardware bring-up to production images and long-term support
• Architect and customise Linux distributions optimised for specific hardware, performance requirements, and operational constraints
• Harden the OS end-to-end: secure boot, TPM integration, immutable rootfs, minimal attack surface, signed updates
• Design and build reliable atomic update mechanisms for both connected and air-gapped environments
• Develop automated build pipelines, reproducible build systems, and test harnesses to support scalable delivery
• Build observability into the OS: metrics, structured logs, boot diagnostics, and system-level telemetry
• Provide Level 3 support for deep OS, kernel, and system-stack issues across development, production, and deployed assets
• Document OS architecture, interfaces, update workflows, and recovery procedures
• Partner closely with product, security, embedded, and platform teams to ensure seamless integration across the stack

Qualifications, Experience and Skills 

• 7+ years building and operating production Linux systems or appliances (bonus: shipped hardware at scale)
• Deep understanding of Linux internals: kernel configuration, bootloaders, init systems, storage, namespaces, udev
• Strong grounding in OS-level security: secure boot, TPMs, disk encryption, UKIs, SELinux, seccomp, integrity tooling
• Proficiency in Bash and one additional scripting or compiled language (Python or Go desirable)
• Experience with observability, diagnostics, and system performance tooling
• Solid understanding of networking: routing, DNS, firewalling, VLANs, bonding
• Familiarity with provisioning systems such as PXE, Kickstart/Preseed, cloud-init, systemd services
• Experience with container and OCI technologies: podman, buildah, Docker, cgroups, overlayfs
• Exposure to image-based deployment models (e.g., RHEL Image Mode / bootc) is a significant bonus
• A product-oriented engineering mindset: reproducible builds, versioned configs, automated tests, and artefact-driven workflows
• Strong collaboration instincts and ability to work across security, product, embedded, and software teams

Note for recruitment agencies: We do not accept unsolicited candidates from external recruiters unless specifically instructed.

About the Company

Work with cutting edge AI technology, making the world a safer and more secure place. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) offers an opportunity to solve some of world’s most challenging technical problems in the rapidly growing counter-drone sector.   

Our customers operate in some of the most challenging and high-stakes environments in the world, including military organisations, government agencies, airports, critical infrastructure operators, and law enforcement. Protecting airspace in these settings requires technology that performs under pressure and teams that understand what’s at stake. At DroneShield, employees work at the leading edge of counter-drone innovation, helping to address real-world security challenges as drone threats continue to evolve globally. 

With one of the largest listed defence company market capitalisations in Australia, now part of the ASX200 index, DroneShield is experiencing a period of hypergrowth. Revenue has surged from A$57 million in 2024 to over A$190 million in 2025, representing growth of more than 400% year-on-year, with record profitability and cashflow. The total addressable global market for counter-drone is assessed at approximately $100 billion, and is currently at the nascent stage with much of the growth still to come, with DroneShield well positioned as a global market leader, and the only public listed pure-play business in this sector.   

The company has grown from 11 employees in 2017 to over 450 staff globally today, and is on track to reach around 550 by the end of 2026. This expansion includes investment of over A$50 million annually in R&D, a global pipeline exceeding A$2.5 billion, and continuous scaling of production capacity to meet accelerating demand.  

The role is based at DroneShield’s central Sydney headquarters. Overseas on-the-ground presence includes Virginia (USA), Netherlands, Denmark, Mexico and Dubai, as well as distributors in over 70 countries worldwide.