Senior System Administrator

SambaNova
San Jose, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Aimed at senior-level system administrators who thrive in fast-paced environments and have experience with heterogeneous hardware and automation.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 5+ years of large-scale system administration and a background in high performance computing
    — “5+ years performing system administration duties at scale”
  • Professionals who have managed Red Hat-based systems and core infrastructure services
    — “Deep working knowledge of Red Hat based distributions”
  • Individuals experienced in deploying and maintaining heterogeneous hardware environments
    — “deploy and operate a heterogeneous fleet that runs from x86 servers to several different AI accelerators”

Things to consider

  • The role demands a preference for the SF Bay Area, with limited remote flexibility based on time zone
    — “SF Bay Area strongly preferred Remote considered for an exceptional candidate, subject to time zone review”
  • Candidates must be prepared to manage multiple infrastructures with varying user and workload requirements
    — “administer multiple infrastructures serving different business functions, each with its own users, workloads, and uptime expectations”

How to stand out

  • Showcase experience with automation tools like Ansible in managing complex environments
    — “use automation to make the environment more efficient and more responsive”
  • Highlight your ability to document systems, procedures, and runbooks thoroughly
    — “Documentation of systems, procedures, and runbooks”
  • Demonstrate your hands-on experience with core infrastructure services such as DNS, DHCP, and NTP
    — “Hands-on experience with core infrastructure services, including PXE, kickstart, DNS, DHCP, NTP, NFS, and LDAP”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • deploy and operate a heterogeneous fleet
  • administer multiple infrastructures
  • use automation to make the environment more efficient
Typical background
5+ years of system administration experienceexperience in a high performance computing environment

Skills & requirements

Required

System AdministrationRed Hat Based DistributionsCore Infrastructure ServicesAnsibleRevision Control SystemsSystem DebuggingJob SchedulersTelemetry And MonitoringEnd User SupportBasic NetworkingBasic Programming And ScriptingDocumentation

Preferred

Debian Based DistributionsContainerizationVirtualizationInfrastructure As CodeSecurityAdvanced NetworkingNetwork Based Storage SolutionsHyperscaler Experience

Stack & domain

Red Hat Based DistributionsPXEKickstartDNSDHCPNTPNFSLDAPSystem ProvisioningAnsibleRevision Control SystemsSystem, Application, And Network DebuggingHigh Performance Computing EnvironmentJob SchedulersTelemetry And MonitoringEnd User SupportBasic Networking KnowledgeBasic Programming And Scripting SkillsDocumentation Of Systems, Procedures, And RunbooksThrives In A Fast Paced EnvironmentAI InfrastructureRDU (reconfigurable Dataflow Unit)SambarackLinux FleetGlobal AI Compute Clusters

About the role

Original posting from SambaNova

SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova's technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.

About the role

SambaNova is scaling from rack-scale systems to global AI compute clusters, and the Linux fleet underneath that growth has to be provisioned, upgraded, and kept running without drift. We're looking for a Senior System Administrator to own that layer end to end, across our own data centers and the environments we run for customers.

Responsibilities

In this role you'll deploy and operate a heterogeneous fleet that runs from x86 servers to several different AI accelerators, and keep it healthy as the hardware mix changes. You'll administer multiple infrastructures serving different business functions, each with its own users, workloads, and uptime expectations. Across all of it, you'll use automation to make the environment more efficient and more responsive, so that fleet changes are repeatable rather than applied by hand.

Required Qualifications

5+ years performing system administration duties at scale

Deep working knowledge of Red Hat based distributions

Hands-on experience with core infrastructure services, including PXE, kickstart, DNS, DHCP, NTP, NFS, and LDAP

System provisioning

Ansible and other automation tooling

Revision control systems

System, application, and network debugging

Experience in a high performance computing environment

Experience with job schedulers

Telemetry and monitoring

End user support

Basic networking knowledge

Basic programming and scripting skills

Documentation of systems, procedures, and runbooks

Thrives in a fast paced environment

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with emerging and maturing hardware

Debian based distributions

Containerization experience (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.)

Virtualization experience

Infrastructure as code

Security

Advanced networking knowledge

Familiarity with network based storage solutions such as NetApp

Hyperscaler experience

Location

SF Bay Area strongly preferred

Remote considered for an exceptional candidate, subject to time zone review

Base Salary Range:

Base Pay Range$160,000—$190,000 USDSubmission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. 

EEO Policy

SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions

SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.

Source: SambaNova careers

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