Senior Linux Systems Engineer

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide.

ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine.

We are looking for a Senior Linux Systems Engineer to join our team of wizards in weaving together internet technologies to create a castle in the cloud to support the operations of our company and the fantastic worlds we create.

In this role you and your fellow masters of the arcane will utilize Linux to support hosting game services and the game server. This includes automation for scaling and wielding Docker for packaging and deployment. You will assist in migrating development infrastructure, such as Perforce, to Linux on AWS, work on automation for non-game services such as the build system and improve overall company infrastructure. This role includes an on-call rotation, during which you stand vigilant against the forces of darkness.

Success in this role requires strong technical expertise paired with a collaborative mindset. You're someone who enjoys solving complex infrastructure challenges and can explain technical concepts clearly to teammates across disciplines. You take pride in building reliable, maintainable systems and are always looking for ways to reduce technical debt, improve performance, and strengthen code quality and architecture.

Beyond your technical contributions, you're invested in making the entire team more effective. You continuously refine your own workflows, contribute to evolving engineering best practices, and understand the importance of planning, estimation, and communication in delivering complex projects successfully.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Administer, configure, patch, and troubleshoot Linux servers across development, stage, and production environments

• Develop and maintain standardized Linux server builds and lifecycle management

• Plan and execute operating system upgrades, migrations, and infrastructure refreshes

• Maintain and implement new Perforce and Swarm infrastructure

• Linux server administration, configuration, and maintenance

• Maintain and enhance Ansible AWX infrastructure, design, and automation workflows

• Maintain, develop, and optimize Ansible playbooks

• Collaborating with other Central Tech teams on shared services, integrations, and platform capabilities

• Improve reliability, maintainability, and usability of internal development tools

• Support cross-functional initiatives that require coordination between the TechOps team and other teams within Central Tech

• Participate in technical planning, implementation, and issue resolution

• Participate in TechOps on-call rotation

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

• 5 years of experience as a systems engineer.

• Linux systems administration

• Experience with a configuration management system, preferably Salt

• Experience with a cloud hosting provider, preferably AWS

• Experience with Python scripting at an intermediate level or higher

• Ability to architect and implement projects independently

• Experience with at least one programming language (eg. C++, C#, Java, Go, …)

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) system, preferably Terraform

• Experience working with CI/CD pipelines

• Experience working with containers and maintenance (imaging) of containers (eg. Docker, Kubernetes, …)

This role is remote-friendly, but we are currently prioritizing candidates who are local to the Bellevue, WA area and open to occasional onsite collaboration.

Applications will be accepted until Friday, August 14th by 10am PT. If the deadline is extended, the posting will be updated accordingly. If the position is filled before this date, the posting will be removed.

Pay Range: $119,135-178,700.50

Please note that the pay range listed in this job posting reflects the full salary range for this position. While we provide this range to offer transparency, our target hiring range typically falls between the minimum and the midpoint, allowing room for growth potential within the role.

Total compensation is salary plus an annual bonus potential. When determining an offer amount, many things are taken into consideration such as qualifications, experience, internal equity, and work location. We strive to provide competitive and equitable compensation packages to all our employees.

This role is also eligible for medical, dental, vision and life insurance, short and long term disability, 401(k), flexible and dependent care spending accounts, PTO, paid holidays and parental leave.

Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.