Senior Systems Engineer

About the Role

You will be a hands-on member of the global Systems team responsible for operating and evolving Cartrack's large-scale, multi-region Linux infrastructure spanning Africa, Europe, and Asia. The estate comprises 1,000+ Linux servers, hyperconverged compute, distributed databases, and container platforms — all supporting a 24/7 fleet telematics platform.

What You Will Do

Infrastructure & Virtualisation

• Provision, configure, and maintain bare metal and virtual machines on Nutanix AHV/Prism hyperconverged infrastructure across ZA, EU, and ASIA data centres
• Manage Proxmox virtualisation nodes and VM lifecycle
• Deploy and operate Docker containers and Kubernetes clusters (including Rancher-managed K8s)
• Implement and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and configuration management using Ansible, Puppet, or CFEngine
• Maintain OS standards across SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Ubuntu LTS, and RHEL/CentOS fleets

Database Administration

• Administer large-scale PostgreSQL deployments — performance tuning, replication, patching, backup/recovery — across hundreds of database instances globally
• Monitor and optimise query performance; respond to lock contention and capacity events
• Maintain database standards, schema migrations, and DR runbooks

Basic Networking (Server-side)

• Configure server network interfaces, bonding, VLANs, and static routes on Linux hosts
• Manage host-based firewalls (firewalld / iptables) and basic DNS resolution
• Liaise with the Network team for advanced firewall policy, routing, VPN, and switching requirements

Identity & Access Management

• Administer FreeIPA (Kerberos, PKI/CA, HBAC, sudo policy) and Samba AD / LDAP identity services
• Manage user and host enrolment, group policy, and SSH key distribution

Monitoring & Observability

• Operate and extend Zabbix monitoring across the full server estate
• Maintain Graylog centralised log management
• Perform capacity planning and periodic performance reporting; make recommendations for upgrades

Messaging & Streaming

• Support Apache Kafka and RabbitMQ message queue infrastructure underpinning the comms engine and mswitch layers

CI/CD & Developer Tooling

• Maintain GitLab (primary, secondary, registry) and Jenkins CI infrastructure
• Collaborate with Software Engineers on pipeline design and deployment automation

Operations

• Enforce automated backup operations and validate recovery procedures
• Apply OS patches and security updates on a regular, scheduled basis
• Support the Zammad ticketing system and respond to escalated incidents
• Administer Zimbra mail infrastructure
• Contribute to GRC compliance activities tracked in Eramba

What You Bring

Essential

• 5+ years Linux system administration (SUSE, Ubuntu, RHEL/CentOS)
• Hands-on Nutanix AHV/Prism administration — node management, storage pools, VM provisioning, cluster operations
• Solid PostgreSQL DBA skills — replication, PITR backup, vacuum tuning, connection pooling
• Configuration management experience — Ansible preferred; Puppet or CFEngine also relevant
• Kubernetes and Docker — deploying, scaling, and troubleshooting containerised workloads
• FreeIPA / Samba AD / LDAP identity management and Kerberos
• Experience with Zabbix or comparable monitoring platforms
• Linux server networking fundamentals — bonding, VLANs, routing, firewalls/iptables
• Scripting proficiency — Bash; Python advantageous
• Hybrid on-premises + cloud (AWS) environment experience

Advantageous

• Kafka and RabbitMQ operational experience
• GitLab administration and CI/CD pipeline development
• Graylog or ELK log management
• Proxmox virtualisation
• Eramba or other GRC tooling
• BS Computer Science or equivalent industry qualification

Personal Attributes

• Self-disciplined, reliable, and accountable
• Strong documentation and communication habits
• Comfortable operating across time zones in a globally distributed team
• Willingness to participate in on-call rotation