Unix/Linux L3 Specialist

Job Role: Unix/Linux L3 Specialist
Location: Alpharetta, GA – Onsite (Hybrid: 3 days/week, rotational including weekends)
Duration: Long-Term Contract


Job Summary
Morgan Stanley is seeking a highly skilled Unix/Linux L3 Specialist to join the Critical Infrastructure (CritInfra) Support Team. This role supports the firm’s most mission-critical Unix/Linux platforms (“Oxygen Systems”) in a follow-the-sun SRE support model.

The L3 Specialist will handle the most complex production issues, often requiring deep system-level troubleshooting, architectural analysis, source-code level fixes, and close collaboration with engineering teams and external vendors. This position demands expert-level Unix/Linux knowledge, advanced TCP/IP expertise, and the ability to operate effectively in high-pressure, enterprise-scale environments.

Key Responsibilities
• Provide Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) support for the firm’s critical Unix/Linux infrastructure in a global follow-the-sun model.
• Act as L3 escalation support, resolving the most complex and high-impact production incidents.
• Participate in rotational on-call support, weekend project work, and outage management.
• Perform proactive health, hygiene, risk, and compliance tasks to ensure operational stability and regulatory adherence.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to test, certify, and deploy new hardware and software platforms.
• Support onboarding of new Unix/Linux assets for growth initiatives and data center build-outs.
• Engage directly with internal clients and stakeholders during incident and outage scenarios to provide expert technical guidance.
• Lead or contribute to incident, problem, and change management processes, ensuring root-cause analysis and permanent fixes.
• Implement automation and “fix once, deploy everywhere” solutions to improve reliability and efficiency.
• Maintain and enhance system monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities.
• Ensure production environments meet security, vulnerability, and patching standards.
• Coordinate effectively with global teams, vendors, and infrastructure partners.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills & Experience
• 6+ years of enterprise-level Unix/Linux administration experience in large, distributed environments.
• Expert-level knowledge of Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) with working knowledge of Solaris.
• Detailed and in-depth knowledge of TCP/IP and associated technologies including NFS, NIS, DNS, and DHCP.
• Strong experience with Unix/Linux system monitoring, reporting, and performance tuning.
• Hands-on expertise with server firmware upgrades and hardware lifecycle management.
• Deep understanding of NTP, time synchronization, and time-keeping technologies.
• Proven experience with vulnerability assessments, remediation, and server patching.
• Programming/scripting experience using Shell, Perl, and/or Python.
• Strong troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex, high-severity issues under pressure.
• Experience with incident, change, and problem management, including documentation and reporting.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work in a global, matrixed team environment.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

Desired Skills & Certifications
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) certification.
• Experience with Infoblox DDI (DNS, DHCP, IPAM) solutions.
• Knowledge of Veritas Cluster Server or similar high-availability solutions.
• Experience with Ansible, OpenShift, and Kubernetes.
• Knowledge of Veritas Volume Manager.
• Prior experience supporting financial services or highly regulated environments.