Senior Unix Engineer

Senior Unix Engineer Overview
As a Unix Platform System Engineer (Ansible-focused), you will be responsible for the build, automation, and continuous improvement of Vocalink Core Unix platforms (RedHat, OEL, Solaris).
The role is centred on infrastructure automation, configuration management, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using tools such as Ansible, and Git, reducing manual effort and improving consistency, scalability, and resilience.
You will lead the transition from traditional system administration to automated, self-service platform engineering, ensuring all services meet SLA and availability targets while driving operational excellence.

Responsibilities
Design, develop, and maintain Ansible playbooks, roles, and automation frameworks to manage Unix platforms at scale
Build and manage Infrastructure as Code (IaC) pipelines for provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management
Standardise and automate Unix builds, patching, upgrades, and compliance enforcement
Integrate automation with tools such as Git, CI/CD pipelines, and Service Management platforms
Lead platform modernisation initiatives, moving from manual/legacy processes to automated solutions
Collaborate with development, platform, and security teams to deliver automated, reusable service offerings
Develop and maintain technical documentation, automation standards, and reusable patterns
Analyse and resolve complex platform issues, leveraging automation to prevent recurrence
Support capacity planning, performance optimisation, and cost efficiency through automation insights
Partner with 3rd parties and internal teams to align with industry best practices in DevOps and platform engineering
Contribute to continuous improvement of Agile delivery practices (Scrum/Kanban)
Experience
Strong experience delivering automation-led platform engineering initiatives, leading workstreams or domains
Proven track record implementing Ansible at scale across Unix/Linux estates
Experience building end-to-end automated pipelines (build, config, patch, deploy)
Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code and GitOps methodologies
Experience transforming legacy/manual operational processes into automated workflows
Ability to define automation strategy, standards, and reusable frameworks
Experience acting as a technical authority for Unix automation and platform engineering
Strong stakeholder engagement across engineering, operations, and leadership teams
Experience driving process improvement, efficiency gains, and cost optimisation through automation
Demonstrated ability to resolve complex platform issues and implement preventative automation solutions

Technical and Professional Skills
Core Platform Skills
RedHat / OEL / Solaris - Advanced
Unix/Linux system administration - Advanced
Patching Lifecycle Automation - Advanced
Networking (TCP/IP, DNS, SSH, LDAP) - Advanced
Automation DevOps (Primary Focus)
Ansible (Playbooks, Roles, Collections, AWX/Tower) - Expert
Infrastructure as Code (Ansible) - Advanced
Git / GitOps workflows - Advanced
Python / Bash scripting - Advanced
Event-driven automation - Intermediate
Platform Engineering Tooling
Red Hat Satellite / patch orchestration - Advanced
Monitoring Observability (Splunk, logs integration) - Intermediate
Vulnerability compliance tools (Qualys, CIS controls) - Intermediate
Infrastructure Architecture Awareness
Compute virtualisation awareness (VMware, OVM) - Advanced
Storage backup technologies - Intermediate
Cloud hybrid infrastructure awareness - Intermediate/Advanced
Infrastructure architecture networking - Advanced
Operating Model Practices
ITIL Service Management - Strong working knowledge
Agile delivery (Scrum/Kanban) - Intermediate
Atlassian (Jira, Confluence) - Intermediate

Certifications Professional Qualifications
Essential

Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
Red Hat Specialist in Ansible Automation

Preferred

Red Hat Specialist in Security
RH403 - Red Hat Satellite Administration
VMware Certified Professional (VCP)

Desirable / Good to Have

HashiCorp Terraform Associate
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate