Senior Linux Engineer

Our Story

At (formerly SovTech) we believe the future of software lies in the talent innovation and creativity found on the African continent. For over a decade we have been pioneering world-class software development for a global audience. We are the leading custom software development company from Africa that like any great tech company was founded in a garage. has now grown to more than 350 of the best AI-powered software engineering experts building world-class platforms for growing businesses across four cities on three continents.

Looking ahead we remain committed to growing Africas tech ecosystems. Africa is home to the worlds youngest population with over 50% of Africans under the age of 25. Recent estimates indicate there are over 700000 professional software developers across Africa today. That number is projected to double by 2025. We believe in the future of African tech talent and the impact it will have on scaling global companies.

Accelerating business growth with expert tech talent

Trusted by 400 companies helps businesses scale with our cloud-based engineering subscription platform offering consistent cost-effective AI-powered experts teams and reliable developer analytics.

Our Culture

Our culture is underpinned by 8 core values.

Earths leading software company from Africa- thats where were going.

Why Join Us

Be part of a dynamic people-first team thats showcasing and advancing Africas tech landscape on the global scale. At we celebrate your individuality empower your decision-making and create meaningful experiences. Together were driving innovation and building exceptional teams Take a look at some of the highlights:

Embrace Our African Talent Footprint Flexibility and Autonomy

• At we champion an empowered workplace where you shape the culture influence decisions on tech stacks and take charge of user testingall while working from wherever you thrive best across our interconnected Guilds.

• Our distributed teams span South Africa Nigeria Kenya Zimbabwe and other parts of the continent showcasing the diversity and brilliance of African talent.

The Vibes

• Annual Foos-Fest : Showcase your skills at our legendary Foosball Festival and take home quirky sought-after awards.

• AI-Powered Hackathons : Collaborate with your team to create innovative market-ready products in just 24 hoursall while enjoying live music and family-friendly fun.

• Year-End Celebrations : Reflect and connect at our unforgettable year-end events a decade-old tradition we continue to cherish.

• Popcorn Fridays Dev Chats and Braais : Bond with colleagues over insightful discussions and sizzling good vibes.

• Fluid Clubs : Join like-minded peers in activities like hiking running and more to foster shared interests beyond work.

• Weekly All-Hands : Stay inspired and in the loop with our weekly All-Hands sessions that bring us together as one team.

• Explore Week : Our annual tradition encourages you to work from anywhere around the globe for one exciting weekfreedom meets inspiration!

Rewards & Recognition

• Stacos (our company currency) : Reward and recognise your peers with Stacos and exchange them for cool vouchers to celebrate accomplishments big and small.

• Commission Incentives : Unlock attractive rewards for successful business development leads and employee referrals.

Continued Career Growth & Support

• Internal AI Platforms : We empower our teams with access to both closed and open source LLMs that make work easier and empower your professional growth. We love AI!

• High-Performance Culture : Stay aligned and on track with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and structured annual reviews.

• Personalized Mentorship : Receive dedicated guidance from leadership and the Talent SuccessTeam through one-on-one sessions and quarterly check-ins tailored to your career aspirations.

Transforming How We Work

• Our teams embrace cutting-edge AI platforms agents and tools creating smarter workflows and accelerating career development with AI.

• OpenAI Anthropic Llama - we use them all so choose what suits you best!

• You dont need your own licenses - we cover the costs and have our own internal AI platforms that gives you access to them all in a secure environment.

Outstanding Employee Benefits*

• Discovery Medical Aid : Prioritizing your health with the best care.

• Half-Day Birthday Leave : Celebrate your special day with an afternoon off!

• Family responsibility & Parental Benefits : Providing full support for a meaningful work-life balance.

*Please note: Benefits may vary depending on employment type

Join us and be part of a dynamic supportive team thats making waves across Africa.

Location: Sandton Johannesburg

Contract Type: Independent Contractor Agreement

Engagement Length: 6 months

Years of Experience: 57 years of hands-on Linux engineering or system administration experience

Qualifications: Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science Software Engineering or a related field.

Certifications: RHCSA RHCE Linux LFCS LFCE (advantageous)

Work Model: Onsite

Key Skills

Linux RHEL Ubuntu Oracle SUSE On-prem Cloud

Containers Kernel Storage Networking PAM LDAP

Kerberos Ansible Terraform SaltStack Puppet GitOps

CI/CD Compliance Security Encryption Monitoring

Prometheus Grafana Elastic CloudWatch Datadog

Splunk Bash Python Performance SLOs Incident

Templates Images Deployment ServiceMesh

DevSecOps Immutable

Responsibilities

Design deploy and operate enterprise-grade Linux systems across on-prem cloud and container environments.

Build and maintain OS baselines and reusable system artifacts.

Configure and optimize OS components (kernel storage networking authentication).

Implement high-availability architectures.

Automate provisioning and lifecycle management using Ansible Terraform SaltStack or Puppet.

Integrate automation into CI/CD pipelines.

Apply security standards and manage privileged access.

Implement encryption certificate/key rotation and secure storage.

Monitor and analyze system performance using modern observability tools.

Support incident response and platform stability.

Enable developer and platform teams with reusable templates and deployment patterns.

Drive continuous improvement and modernization initiatives.

Requirements

57 years of Linux engineering or system administration.

Strong automation and scripting (Bash Python).

Experience with configuration management tools.

Familiarity with hybrid infrastructure (virtualization cloud containers).

Solid networking and storage knowledge.

Exposure to enterprise security and compliance.

Relevant certifications are advantageous.

Consulting or managed service experience is beneficial.