Linux SME - DV Cleared

Linux SME

Location: Reading - fully onsite Contract: 12-month rolling contract Rate: 600- 650 per day IR35: Outside IR35 Clearance: Active MOD DV clearance required Working Pattern: Full-time

The Role

We are looking for an experienced Linux Subject Matter Expert (SME) to join a high-profile technical environment based onsite in Reading .

You will provide senior-level technical expertise across Linux infrastructure, DevOps tooling, automation and platform engineering. The role will suit someone who is comfortable operating as a technical authority, solving complex infrastructure problems and working closely with engineering, development and operational teams.

Due to the nature of the environment, active MOD DV clearance is essential .

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a Linux and DevOps SME, providing technical leadership and guidance across the environment.

• Design, implement and maintain robust Linux-based infrastructure and platforms.

• Support the development and continuous improvement of DevOps processes and tooling.

• Automate infrastructure, configuration and operational processes wherever possible.

• Troubleshoot and resolve complex Linux, infrastructure and platform issues.

• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines and associated tooling.

• Support infrastructure-as-code and configuration management practices.

• Contribute to platform resilience, availability, security and performance.

• Work closely with engineering, development, security and operations teams.

• Provide technical documentation, standards and best-practice guidance.

• Mentor and support other engineers where required.

• Investigate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to the existing platform.

• Participate in technical design, architecture and implementation activities.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Extensive commercial experience working with Linux in an enterprise environment .

• Strong hands-on experience across DevOps / Platform Engineering .

• Excellent Linux administration and troubleshooting skills.

• Strong scripting/automation experience, ideally with Bash and/or Python .

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tooling .

• Strong understanding of Git and source control .

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code , ideally Terraform and/or Ansible.

• Experience working with containers and container orchestration technologies.

• Strong understanding of networking, systems integration and infrastructure concepts.

• Experience working in secure, highly controlled or complex technical environments.

• Ability to operate independently as a senior technical SME.

• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

• Current, active MOD DV clearance.

Desirable

• Kubernetes / OpenShift experience.

• Docker / containerisation.

• Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions or similar.

• Ansible.

• Terraform.

• Cloud platform experience.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux or equivalent.

• Experience within UK Government / MOD / Defence environments.

• Experience working with security-hardened Linux environments.

• Relevant Linux, DevOps or cloud certifications.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for a genuine hands-on SME , rather than someone purely focused on management. You should be comfortable getting into the detail, diagnosing difficult technical problems and making pragmatic engineering decisions.

You'll be joining a technically demanding environment where your experience in Linux, automation and DevOps will have a direct impact on the reliability and evolution of the platform.

Contract Details

• 12-month rolling contract

• 600- 650 per day

• Outside IR35

• Full-time

• 100% onsite - Reading

• MOD DV clearance required If you are an experienced Linux SME with active MOD DV clearance and are interested in a long-term contract opportunity, we'd like to hear from you.