LinuxONE System Programmer

Who We Are

At Kyndryl, we run and reimagine the mission-critical technology systems that drive advantage for the world's leading businesses. We are at the heart of progress; with proven expertise and a continuous flow of AI-powered insight, enabling smarter decisions, faster innovation, and a lasting competitive edge. For our people-Kyndryls-that means doing purposeful work that powers human progress. Join us and experience a flexible, supportive environment where your well-being is prioritized and your potential can thrive.

The Role

Key Responsibilities

Linux Platform Engineering (LinuxONE / IBM Z)

• Administer and harden RHEL (and other supported distros) on LinuxONE, including kernel, packages, networking, storage, users, and services.
• Build and maintain automated OS installs (Kickstart/Anaconda or equivalent) integrated with CMDB/asset tagging and post‑install configuration.

• Install, configure, and operate Kubernetes clusters (control plane & workers) on LinuxONE; manage upgrades, node lifecycle, networking (CNI), storage (CSI), and ingress.
• Implement cluster policies (RBAC, pod security, quotas), observability, and backup/restore of cluster state and workloads.

• Develop and maintain Ansible playbooks/roles and shell/Python/Go tooling for provisioning, configuration drift remediation, patching, compliance, and day‑2 operations.
• Implement CI/CD hooks for infrastructure (linting, testing, canary changes) and create reusable automation modules for common tasks.

• Design, install, and administer GPFS clusters (NSD servers, filesystems, policies), capacity/throughput planning, and performance tuning.
• Integrate GPFS with Kubernetes (CSI) and application teams; ensure data protection, snapshots/replication (as applicable), and effective multi‑tenant governance.

• Configure and manage SELinux (policy enforcement, context management) and Linux firewalls (nftables/iptables, firewalld) to meet enterprise security standards.
• Automate certificate management, SSH baselines, OS patching cadence, and vulnerability remediation workflows.

• Build robust monitoring/alerting dashboards; tune system/cluster performance; lead incident response and root‑cause analysis.
• Create and maintain runbooks, standard operating procedures, diagrams, and environment inventories; participate in on‑call rotations and maintenance windows.

• Partner with application, database, middleware, and security teams to plan deployments, size environments, and meet non‑functional requirements (HA, DR, performance, compliance).
• Provide technical guidance to engineering squads on platform‑ready patterns (container images, storage classes, network policies).

• 8+ years in Linux systems engineering/administration with production ownership.
• Proven experience with Kubernetes cluster administration (install/upgrade/operate).
• Strong background in automated RHEL installs and Ansible‑based configuration management.
• Hands‑on IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS) installation, configuration, and operations.
• Solid SELinux administration and Linux firewall management.
• Proficiency in shell scripting, Ansible, Python, and Go for automation and tooling.
• Strong troubleshooting across OS, container, storage, and network layers in enterprise environments.

• Experience running Kubernetes on LinuxONE/IBM Z with KVM/z/VM (or equivalents) and tuning for s390x.
• Familiarity with container registries, image signing, and supply‑chain hardening.
• Observability stacks (Prometheus/Grafana/Alertmanager, ELK/EFK, OpenTelemetry).
• Infra‑as‑Code (Terraform) and secrets management (Vault, external secrets).
• Knowledge of HA/DR patterns for Kubernetes and GPFS; backup/restore tooling.

• Ownership mindset with strong documentation and change‑management discipline.
• Analytical problem‑solving; calm under pressure; excellent incident/RCA skills.
• Clear communication and collaboration with cross‑functional engineering teams.
• Continuous improvement mindset with a bias toward automation and reliability.

• Platform reliability: High uptime for Linux/Kubernetes/GPFS services; reduced MTTR.
• Automation coverage: Increased % of tasks delivered via Ansible and scripts; reduced configuration drift.
• Performance & Scale: Predictable capacity growth; improved workload performance.
• Security posture: Timely patching, hardened baselines, and clean audit outcomes.
• Developer productivity: Faster, repeatable environment provisioning and app onboarding.