Strong fit for IT professionals with Linux system administration experience who thrive in compliance-driven defense environments and can manage multi-platform support.
Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.
Original posting from Allen Control Systems via Ashby
Company Overview
ACS (Allen Control Systems) is a defense technology company building precision robotic systems for the United States and its allies. Founded by two former U.S. Navy electrical engineers with deep experience in robotics and software, ACS brings together AI, computer vision, precision motion, and advanced hardware to solve complex defense challenges across land, air, and maritime environments.
Our flagship product, Bullfrog, is an autonomous precision weapon system that transforms existing weapons into highly accurate counter-drone systems — giving warfighters a scalable, cost-effective response to one of the fastest-growing threats on the modern battlefield. Bullfrog is deployed with U.S. forces, and ACS works with organizations throughout the U.S. military and national security community.
Following a $200 million Series B at a $2.2 billion valuation, ACS is rapidly expanding manufacturing, accelerating Bullfrog deployments, and developing the next generation of autonomous battlefield systems. This is an opportunity to join a proven, fast-moving team and help scale technology with direct, real-world impact on national security.
ACS is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional operations in Alexandria, Virginia; Mountain View, California; and Huntsville, Alabama. For more information, visit allencontrolsystems.com http://allencontrolsystems.com.
IT Help Desk Engineer - Linux Level II ~ III
Position Overview
We are seeking an IT Help Desk Engineer -Linux to provide first-line technical support and ensure the smooth operation of day-to-day IT needs across ACS, including our Windows, macOS, and Linux environments. This role will focus on troubleshooting issues, resolving IT tickets, onboarding new employees, and maintaining systems, while enabling IT leadership to focus on compliance, infrastructure, and long-term security initiatives.
The ideal candidate will be highly organized, customer-focused, and eager to grow with a fast-moving defense startup.
This role is based in Austin, TX.
What You'll Do:
- Serve as the first point of contact for IT support, troubleshooting hardware, software, and networking issues across Linux and macOS systems.
- Administer and support Linux-based workstations and servers, including user and permissions management, software/package installation, and command-line troubleshooting.
- Manage the onboarding process for new users, including configuring laptops, installing software, and supporting new employee setup.
- Manage and track IT help desk tickets, escalating when necessary to meet SLAs.
- Perform routine system maintenance to ensure all devices remain secure and up to date.
- Assist in documentation efforts, keeping system logs and IT records current, and work with vendors to gather technical and compliance documentation.
- Support compliance-related initiatives, including CMMC Level 2 and ITAR, by maintaining operational standards, and communicate effectively with employees on the status of their IT issues.
What You'll Need:
- 3+ years of IT help desk, technical support, or related experience.
- Strong troubleshooting skills across hardware, software, and networking.
- Build, image, and harden Ubuntu and RHEL-family workstations from a standard baseline, using cloud-init, kickstart, preseed, ansible, or an imaging tool
- Manage packages and repositories including dpkg/rpm, apt/dnf, third-party repos and GPG keys, and resolve dependency conflicts
- Administer users, groups, sudoers, file permissions, ACLs, and SSH key lifecycle and hardening
- Integrate Linux endpoints with central identity (Okta, Entra ID, LDAP) using SSSD/realmd and PAM, and troubleshoot broken authentication
- Root-cause failures from journalctl, dmesg, and syslog: boot failures, service crashes, and driver problems
- Storage work: partitioning, LVM, ext4/xfs, fstab, NFS and SMB mounts, LUKS disk encryption, and recovering a full or damaged disk
- Hardware and drivers: NVIDIA and CUDA driver installs, kernel modules, UEFI and Secure Boot, and GRUB recovery
- Network configuration: static addressing with netplan or NetworkManager, VPN clients, host firewall (ufw/firewalld), and certificate trust stores
- Deploy and verify endpoint security agents on Linux: EDR, patching, disk encryption, and log forwarding, and correct a machine that has drifted out of compliance
- Write and maintain bash scripts, work in Python for automation, and use git
- Run and troubleshoot Docker containers, read a Dockerfile or compose file, and resolve permission and GPU passthrough issues
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field preferred; knowledge of compliance frameworks (CMMC, ITAR, or similar) is a plus.
You'll Stand Out:
- Experience with owning the Linux endpoint and server baseline end to end: define it, harden it against CIS Benchmarks or DISA STIGs, document it, and keep it patched
- Experience with managing configuration at fleet scale with Ansible (or Salt, Puppet, Chef), with idempotent playbooks kept in version control and peer reviewed
- Design Linux access control: centralized authentication, sudo policy, certificate-based or short-lived SSH credentials, and privileged access management
- Supporting ROS 2 development environments, NVIDIA Jetson or other embedded Linux, or real-time kernel builds
- Supporting engineering workstations with GPUs, CAD, or simulation workloads
- Hands-on experience in compliance-driven environments.
- Background supporting defense or aerospace companies.
- Familiarity with vendor security and risk management processes.
What We Offer:
- Competitive salary
- ACS Equity Package
- Health, Dental, Vision Insurance
- Paid Time Off
Allen Control Systems is an Equal Opportunity Employer, providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. Allen Control Systems prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
d by federal, state, or local laws.