Linux SME / Technical Lead


Company:	Hays Specialist Recruitment
Salary:	£750 to £800 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, EC2V 6DN
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	24 Sept 2026
Closing date:	24 Oct 2026

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Summary

Linux SME / Technical Lead - £800 Per Day Inside IR35 - 6-Month Contract - Hybrid

A leading financial markets organisation is seeking a Linux SME / Technical Lead to support a complex, business-critical infrastructure environment undergoing significant operational and technology transformation. This position sits within the core infrastructure function and will play a key role in maintaining platform stability while helping drive automation, reliability engineering and modernisation initiatives.

As the Linux SME / Technical Lead, you will act as the senior technical authority for the Linux estate, providing hands-on support, technical leadership and operational governance across enterprise platforms. You'll work closely with infrastructure operations, reliability engineering, security and platform teams to ensure the continued availability, resilience and performance of critical services. The role requires someone who is comfortable remaining technically hands-on whilst leading operational activities, managing major incidents and driving continuous improvement.

What you'll need to succeed

Extensive experience supporting and administering enterprise Linux environments (RHEL, Rocky Linux, CentOS or similar)

Proven experience operating as a Linux SME, Technical Lead or Senior Linux Engineer within large-scale enterprise environments

Strong hands-on experience with Linux system administration, troubleshooting, performance tuning, patch management and server lifecycle management

Experience with automation technologies including Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), Python, Bash, Terraform and GitOps

Strong understanding of high availability, clustering, resilience and service continuity principles

Experience leading incident, problem and change management activities within production environments

Knowledge of Infrastructure Reliability Engineering (IRE), Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) or Platform Engineering practices

Experience supporting infrastructure transformation, automation and operational improvement initiatives

Strong understanding of operational governance, risk management and ITIL-aligned service management processes

Ability to act as the senior escalation point for complex Linux and platform-related issues

Experience working closely with infrastructure, security, architecture and engineering teams

Strong stakeholder management and communication skills

Financial services or experience within a highly regulated environment is highly desirable

Experience with storage, backup and wider infrastructure technologies would be beneficial

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.

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