Sr. IT Systems Engineer

ExtraHop is reinventing Network Detection and Response (NDR) to help enterprises and organziations stay ahead of emerging threats with unmatched network visibility, context, and control.

Today’s attackers bypass traditional security defenses through identity-based entry, move invisibly across cloud, on-premise, and data center networks using encryption and trusted applications, and exploit and exit whenever they want.  But all of that movement is visible on the network... if you can see it.

By combining the power of NDR with Network Performance Management (NPM), Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), and forensics in a single, integrated platform, ExtraHop can decrypt and unlock complete packet-level data at wire speed, analyze and correlate it across all your networks, applications, devices, and users with cloud-scale machine learning, and provide a single interface to the SOC to detect, investigate, and remediate modern cyber risks in real time.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Sr. IT Systems Engineer to ensure the 24x7 availability and performance of our infrastructure through secure, scalable cloud solutions and automation. This is a hybrid architectural, implementation, and support role. You will design and manage production monitoring, streamline workflows, contribute to documentation, and write efficient, maintainable code. With 8+ years of experience, strong Unix/Linux expertise, and knowledge of networking protocols, you’ll collaborate across teams to solve complex problems, improve system reliability, and proactively address security risks. You will work within a team of mid-level and senior IT engineers and developers spanning the network and systems infrastructure, identity management, security, and integration spaces, expanding our service portfolio following business needs and iterating and improving upon our existing infrastructure. This role offers the opportunity to tackle new challenges and grow within a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure 24x7 responsiveness of services and infrastructure, including on-call rotation for production services.
• Design and manage production system monitoring, using ExtraHop wire data products and conventional tools.
• Add to our internal and stakeholder-facing knowledge bases, including design documents, playbooks, diagrams, and documentation.
• Design and construct secure, future-proof, hybrid/multi-cloud services and networks.
• Implement and improve human and automated workflows for operations and support.
• Write elegant, extensible, sustainable code to solve current and future problems as simply as possible, but no simpler.
• Learn and grow as an engineer and as a colleague.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Unix/Linux systems administration and software development.
• Proficiency in using Shell/Bash and other automation tools within a Linux/Unix environment.
• Familiarity with a distributed version-control workflow in a team setting (e.g., Git).
• Competency in web infrastructure operations, including development and deployment.
• Experience or strong interest in cloud and serverless infrastructure.
• Understanding of virtualization platforms such as Linux KVM.
• In-depth knowledge of enterprise networking and application protocols: TCP/IP, HTTP, SSH, DNS, LDAP, TLS.
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written), with an ability to collaborate effectively across teams.
• Self-directed problem-solving ability, with skills in building consensus among peers and partners.
• Security-focused mindset across all operational activities.
• Ability to express and defend well-formed opinions on technical topics, even in respectful disagreement (e.g., emacs vs. vi).
• Willingness to take on new, undefined challenges and explore innovative solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with cloud virtualization platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Our team doubles as an escalation point for desktop support, and we manage the Active Directory environment; Windows and/or MacOS competency is a plus.
• Experience with Google Workspace administration is an asset.
• Understanding of firewall and security management principles.
• Understanding of secondary networking and application protocols: UDP, SMTP, NTP, SNMP, Finger.
• Hands-on experience with Linux configuration management systems (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Chef).
• Familiarity with network switching and routing equipment, including configuration and deployment.
• Strong attention to detail, especially regarding grammatical nuances such as the Oxford comma and double sentence spacing.

Skills and Competencies