Senior Linux Systems Engineer

This position is designated as a hybrid role based out of our headquarters near Portland, Oregon. The current expectation is for employees to work onsite four days per week, subject to change based on business needs. This in-office requirement may be adjusted at the discretion of the company.

OUTGROWN YOUR OWN BACKYARD? COME PLAY IN OURS.

At Columbia, we’re as passionate about the outdoors as you are. While our gear is available worldwide, we’re proud to be based in the Pacific Northwest, where natural wonders are our playground. Every product we make and every task we undertake is inspired by the famous words of our founder Gert Boyle: “It’s perfect. Now make it better.”

ABOUT THE POSITION

Technology is central to everything we do. Columbia Sportswear’s Digital Technology (CDT) group supports four global brands, a worldwide supply chain, and 500+ geographically dispersed stores—powering in‑store, mobile, and data platforms in a complex, always‑on environment.

As a Senior Linux Systems Engineer, you’ll lead reliability and performance for our Linux estate across both on‑prem and cloud platforms, partnering with infrastructure and application teams to design standards, automate operations, and ensure secure, resilient services at global scale.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• Raise reliability at scale: Own SLOs for critical Linux services across on‑prem and cloud; drive availability, performance, and cost‑efficient operations for a global footprint.
• Standardize and automate: Define hardened build standards and use automation/IaC (e.g., Ansible, Terraform) to reduce toil, accelerate changes, and improve consistency.
• Ship secure, current platforms: Lead patching compliance, vulnerability remediation, and configuration management across Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments.
• Protect the business: Ensure backup and recovery readiness (e.g., Commvault) and validate restore procedures for mission‑critical workloads.
• Design for hybrid: Collaborate on architectures spanning VMware, Windows interop, and public cloud (Azure/AWS); document trade‑offs and recommended patterns.  
• Accelerate delivery: Partner with app teams to troubleshoot complex issues, streamline deployments/upgrades, and improve MTTR through high‑quality runbooks.
• Support retail ERP: Apply Linux expertise to enterprise systems (SAP), balancing 24/7 retail demands with change control and operational excellence.
• Lead when it counts: Participate in the on‑call rotation for Priority 1/2 events; drive incident response, post‑incident reviews, and preventive actions.

YOU ARE

• A systems thinker who balances reliability, security, and speed in a hybrid environment.
• An automator who prefers pipelines and code over manual steps.
• A strong collaborator and communicator who translates technical detail into clear guidance for partners.
• Documentation‑first: you create maintainable standards, runbooks, and diagrams that teams actually use.

YOU HAVE

• Deep experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Linux systems administration at scale.
• Hands‑on with automation frameworks (Ansible, Puppet, Chef) and infrastructure‑as‑code (e.g., Terraform; containers like Docker).
• Practical knowledge of VMware, Windows interoperability, and hybrid cloud deployments (Azure/AWS).
• Backup and recovery expertise (e.g., Commvault) supporting large, distributed environments (think 2000+ servers).
• Experience supporting enterprise platforms (e.g., SAP) and operating in an on‑call rotation within a 24/7 retail context.

#LI-JD1

This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company. 

Columbia Sportswear Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf. If you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.

At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding. Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community. Benefits that can protect your family’s financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match. Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services). In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.

If you need an accommodation/adjustment to successfully complete and submit your application, please reach out to AskHR@columbia.com with the Subject: Applicant Assistance Requested.