The Systems Administrator is responsible for the day-to-day operational support, maintenance, and reliability of Karman systems deployed in high-density data center environments. This role focuses on Linux systems administration, system health, uptime, and operational excellence. This is not an architecture or design role, but a hands-on position ensuring stable, secure, and optimized production systems. This position is based onsite at our company headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with flexibility for occasional remote work. Candidates will be expected to collaborate cross-functionally with remote teams based across the country.
Responsibilities
- Perform day-to-day Linux systems administration across production environments (RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS or similar)
- Install, configure, patch, upgrade, and maintain Linux servers and associated infrastructure
- Monitor system performance, availability, and resource utilization; proactively address issues before impact
- Troubleshoot and resolve operating system, application, and infrastructure-related incidents
- Execute established deployment procedures and configuration standards for Karman systems
- Support rack-based systems, including hardware checks and coordination around PDUs and PSUs as needed
- Maintain system security through patching, access control management, and adherence to best practices
- Perform log analysis, root cause analysis, and incident documentation
- Contribute to documentation of operational runbooks, troubleshooting guides, and system procedures
- Support Tailscale network access, user accounts, and permission policies
- Support observability stack (Prometheus/Grafana) including dashboards, user access management, metrics collection, and alerting
- Provide internal technical support to engineering teams, including general escalations and package install requests
- Work with IT and security teams on vulnerability scanning, remediation timelines, and patch prioritization
- Support change management processes, coordinating with IT on network, firewall, and access control changes affecting production environments
- Participate in security reviews, audits, and tabletop exercises as needed
- Coordinate with IT on asset lifecycle management, including provisioning, decommissioning, and inventory tracking for data center hardware
- Coordinate with the SOC on security incident detection, triage, and response for Karman production systems
- Participate in on-call rotation to support system uptime and rapid incident response
Minimum Qualifications
- 5+ years of hands-on Linux systems administration experience in production environments
- Strong experience with Linux installation, configuration management, patching, and performance tuning
- Experience supporting systems in data center or high-availability environments
- Solid understanding of system monitoring, log management, and troubleshooting methodologies
- Experience working within established infrastructure standards and operational processes
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, operationally focused environment
Enhanced Qualifications (Nice to Have)
- Experience with configuration management or automation tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef, or similar)
- Experience with monitoring/observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, or similar)
- Familiarity with containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Exposure to high-performance computing, AI infrastructure, or GPU-based systems
- Familiarity with security frameworks such as NIST, CIS benchmarks, or SOC 2 controls.
- Experience with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Sentinel, or similar)
Salary Range: $120,000 to $150,000 base compensation depending on experience and stock options. Salary will be commensurate with an individual's skills, training, years of experience, and in line with internal compensation bands.
Location: This position is based onsite at our company headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with flexibility for occasional remote work.
Our Commitments:
Utilidata values the diversity of our team. We provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy or childbirth, sexual orientation, genetics, genetic information, marital status, or status as a covered veteran or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state and local laws.
We are committed to:
- Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that is welcoming, supportive, affirming and respectful
- Empowering employees to solve problems and work together to make a difference
- Providing mentorship and growth opportunities as part of a collaborative team
- A flexible work environment with flexible paid time off
- Competitive compensation and benefits, including health, dental, vision, and employer-match 401k
Top Skills
What We Do
Utilidata is an AI-powered technology company that is working with NVIDIA to create the next generation of AI-embedded infrastructure, starting with the electric grid. Karman, our distributed AI platform, operates on our custom NVIDIA module, makes data available for accelerated computing at the edge, and trains AI models locally. Karman is embedded in grid devices - starting with smart meters - to transform the way utility companies operate. As the electric grid becomes more complex with the rapid increase of electric vehicles, distributed solar, batteries, heat pumps and extreme weather, utilities need real-time visibility of grid conditions and dynamic, software-defined infrastructure. Karman provides real-time visibility and AI at the grid edge so utilities can better utilize customer energy resources, reduce power outages, and enable quicker storm recovery. We are a mission-driven, collaborative, and adaptive team working to do what’s right, even when it’s hard. With backgrounds in electric engineering, power systems engineering, software engineering, data science, and energy policy, we bring a unique perspective on the solutions the energy industry needs. We are committed to ensuring a diverse, inclusive, and flexible workplace where employees are provided mentorship and growth opportunities and are empowered to solve problems as part of a collaborative team.
