Senior Systems Administrator

Calix is seeking a Senior Systems Administrator to join our high-performing Product Operations and Engineering team. This role is critical in shaping and delivering infrastructure services that support the development of next-generation networking and SaaS products. The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, a proactive mindset, and a strong ability to lead cross-functional initiatives that improve system reliability, scalability, and performance.
You will serve as a technical lead in the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of virtual infrastructure services across global environments. You will collaborate with software development, product, and support teams to ensure infrastructure solutions align with business goals and engineering needs. This role requires a strategic thinker who can balance hands-on execution with mentorship and process optimization.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the administration and lifecycle management of core infrastructure technologies including virtualization platforms (VMware, KVM), storage systems, and cloud environments (GCP, Azure).
• Architect and implement scalable, secure, and resilient infrastructure solutions that support engineering and product development.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in Linux and Windows systems administration, automation, and configuration management.
• Drive incident response and root cause analysis for complex infrastructure issues; lead post-mortem reviews and continuous improvement efforts.
• Develop and maintain infrastructure documentation, including architecture diagrams, SOPs, and knowledge base articles.
• Mentor junior team members and contribute to the development of team standards and best practices.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to translate business and technical requirements into actionable infrastructure strategies.
• Evaluate and recommend new technologies, tools, and vendors to enhance infrastructure capabilities.
• Lead vendor performance reviews and participate in strategic planning for infrastructure investments.
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure system health, team productivity, and service quality.
• Participate in capacity planning, budgeting, and roadmap development for infrastructure services.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of experience in systems administration, infrastructure engineering, or related IT roles.
• Proven experience leading infrastructure projects and cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills; able to influence and collaborate across teams.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage multiple initiatives in a dynamic environment.
• Deep understanding of IT service management (ITIL), DevOps practices, and Agile methodologies.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Availability for off-hours support and collaboration with global teams.
• Occasional travel may be required.

Preferred Skills

• Expertise in virtualization (VMware, KVM, Hyper-V) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong knowledge of IP networking, VLANs, routing, DNS, and virtual networking.
• Experience with infrastructure automation tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Terraform).
• Familiarity with identity and access management (Active Directory, LDAP).
• Experience with converged/hyperconverged infrastructure and SAN/NAS storage.
• Cybersecurity awareness and experience implementing secure infrastructure practices.
• Additional duties as required.

The base pay range for this position varies based on the geographic location. More information about the pay range specific to candidate location and other factors will be shared during the recruitment process. Individual pay is determined based on location of residence and multiple factors, including job-related knowledge, skills and experience.

San Francisco Bay Area:

133,400 - 226,600 USD Annual116,000 - 197,000 USD Annual