Senior Linux Product Engineer (AU)

Work with cutting edge technology, making the world a safer and more secure place. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) offers an opportunity to solve some of world’s most challenging technical problems in the Electronic Warfare, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, RF sensing, Sensor Fusion and distributed systems. Working with high profile customers across militaries, government agencies, airports, critical infrastructure, law enforcement and many others.

With one of the largest listed defence company market capitalisations in Australia and having raised approximately $250m in 2024 alone, DroneShield is undergoing hypergrowth stage, fuelled by rapidly increasing use of drones for nefarious applications, from battlefield, to terrorism, to contraband delivery and commercial espionage.

This role is in the DroneShield Sydney headquarters in Pyrmont, Sydney. There are approximately 300 staff based in the 4,000sqm facility today, scheduled to grow to approximately 350 staff by end of 2025. Overseas on the ground presence includes Virginia (USA), Denmark, Germany and Dubai, as well as distributors in over 70 countries globally.

About the role

Senior Linux Engineer will lead and evolve the operation, performance, and security of Linux systems across DroneShield’s infrastructure and edge platforms. This is a hands-on, systems-level engineering role working across production servers, on-prem assets, and edge compute devices, with a focus on reliability, automation, and system observability.

You’ll be part of the Linux Product Team with a main focus on DroneSentry C2 and contribute to a broad scope of systems.

This role reports to the Platforms Lead.

Responsibilities, Duties and Expectations 

• Own the configuration, tuning, and lifecycle of Linux systems across DroneShield’s product and infrastructure landscape
• Build secure Linux images for company-wide use, from embedded systems to critical infrastructure
• Optimise performance and reliability across bootloaders, init systems, filesystems, and kernel modules
• Automate provisioning, patching, and system diagnostics using Bash, Python, and infrastructure tooling
• Lead secure-by-design hardening efforts: kernel lockdown, SELinux/AppArmor, TPM integration
• Design telemetry and observability into the operating system: system metrics, structured logs, boot diagnostics
• Maintain and evolve custom Linux images based on Ubuntu Classic and Ubuntu Core, for both x86 and ARM platforms
• Provide Level 3 support for OS and system-level issues across production and deployed assets
• Collaborate with security and embedded teams to ensure OS stability and traceability
• Document standards, interfaces, recovery workflows, and tuning decisions.

Qualifications, Experience and Skills 

• Extensive experience operating and debugging Linux systems (Ubuntu Core, Ubuntu Classic, Debian, RHEL, or Yocto-based)
• Deep understanding of Linux internals: kernel, init systems, udev, cgroups, bootloaders
• Proficiency in Bash scripting and at least one additional language (e.g. Python, Go)
• Experience with secure boot, TPMs, disk encryption, and OS-level security controls
• Experience building or managing custom Linux images for embedded or production use
• Working knowledge of system observability, logging, and performance analysis tools
• Familiarity with PXE, systemd services, Kickstart/preseed, or cloud-init workflows
• Understanding of core networking fundamentals (IP routing, DNS, iptables/nftables, bonding/VLANs)

Nice to have

• Experience working in a product team
• Understanding of container runtimes and Linux namespaces
• Experience with UKIs, GRUB, shims, or early boot firmware
• Exposure to embedded Linux platforms and ARM SoCs
• Familiarity with real-time Linux (PREEMPT_RT) or deterministic system workloads
• Contributions to open-source Linux or OS infrastructure tooling
• Background in secure infrastructure or regulated environments (e.g. defence, critical systems)

Note for recruitment agencies: We do not accept unsolicited candidates from external recruiters unless specifically instructed.