Linux Engineer

Location: Chicago, United States

Department: Systems & Infrastructure

We’re seeking a Linux Engineer with deep systems expertise and Python/scripting experience to join our growing global team. You will be responsible for engineering and operating Linux at scale across our mission critical environment, while also improving automation and self-service tools that enhance our ability to manage IMC’s servers.

The Linux Engineering team is responsible for the provisioning, configuration, performance, and reliability of a large-scale Linux infrastructure that supports a diverse set of workloads. These include ultra-low latency systems critical to high-frequency trading, as well as high-throughput environments that run research workflows and a wide variety of Kubernetes-based applications. This role requires strong Linux fundamentals applied at scale, with automation as a key enabler for consistency and efficiency across the fleet. Your initiative, collaborative attitude, problem-solving skills, and focus on continuous improvement will help ensure IMC stays competitive by bringing the latest technologies and practices into production.

Your Core Responsibilities: 

• Apply deep Linux engineering expertise to troubleshoot and resolve complex issues on enterprise systems, ensuring stability and performance
• Enhance configuration management code and processes that we use to manage over 10,000 bare-metal Linux systems globally
• Develop and maintain Python/Bash tools to support large-scale Linux systems management
• Improve provisioning workflows to seamlessly build bare servers into production-ready platforms
• Extend Linux-focused metrics, logging, monitoring, and alerting integrations for full fleet visibility
• Communicate updates and status clearly and frequently with peers and stakeholders through meetings, tracking tickets, code reviews, chats, and merge requests

Your Skills and Experience: 

• Hands-on Linux systems engineering, administration, and provisioning expertise applied at scale, preferably on bare-metal systems
• Configuration management at scale, preferably on bare-metal servers with Puppet and Hiera
• Python development for automation, APIs, design, testing, and debugging
• Ansible playbook authorship and complex task automation
• RPM design, build, publishing, and in-house repository management
• CI/CD pipelines, Git version control, branching and merging best practices
• Strong system and network troubleshooting with tools such as EBPF, tcpdump, strace, systemd, ntp/ptp, lsof, and nc
• Networking fundamentals: routing, DNS, TCP/UDP/multicast
• Experience building and publishing Docker images
• Working familiarity with Kubernetes
• Exposure to monitoring stacks such as Prometheus, Grafana, and AlertManager, with a focus on Linux telemetry and exporter development
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering or a related field, or equivalent professional experience