Senior Linux Engineer – SSH Key Management & Security

Contract Duration: Through December 2027, with potential extension

Target Start: November 2026 preferred; project kickoff January 2027

Work Arrangement: Hybrid - North Mississauga or South Brampton, approximately 2-4 days onsite per week

Position Overview:

Our retail client is looking for an experienced linux Security Engineer to support the implementation of an enterprise SSH key-management solution.

The organization has completed initial proof-of-concept work and is preparing to roll out the solution across its Linux & Unix environments. The project will involve defining technical requirements, developing deployment approaches and implementing the solution in phases.

The successful candidate will bring strong hands-on Linux and Unix and SSH security experience, working closely with infrastructure, SRE, network, security and change-management teams to support the implementation.

This is a hands-on technical delivery role requiring someone who understands SSH key management, can work through complex implementation challenges and help ensure secure, scalable deployments across enterprise environments.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong hands-on experience administering, configuring and troubleshooting enterprise Linux and Unix environments and OpenSSH.
• Deep understanding of SSH authentication, public-private keys, authorized keys, trust relationships, SSH configurations and key lifecycle management.
• Experience implementing or supporting SSH security, SSH key management or access-management solutions in enterprise environments.
• Experience translating technical requirements and solution designs into deployment patterns, implementation procedures and production-ready solutions.
• Strong understanding of Linux-Unix security configurations, authentication mechanisms and technical dependencies across different operating systems.
• Experience supporting large-scale infrastructure or security implementations, including phased deployments, testing, troubleshooting, change management and rollback planning.
• Ability to assess technical approaches, identify implementation risks and recommend secure, scalable solutions.
• Strong communication skills and experience working with infrastructure, SRE, network, security and external vendor teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the implementation and phased rollout of an enterprise SSH key-management solution across Linux-Unix environments.
• Work with internal technical teams and vendors to define solution requirements, deployment approaches and implementation plans.
• Assess existing Linux-Unix environments to understand SSH configurations, authentication methods, access patterns and technical dependencies.
• Develop and validate deployment patterns across different Linux-Unix operating systems and OpenSSH versions.
• Support SSH key discovery, inventory, lifecycle management and the implementation of security controls.
• Work with infrastructure and SRE teams to define automation requirements and support the deployment of SSH configurations and security controls at scale.
• Coordinate technical testing, troubleshooting, change management and rollback planning to support production deployments.
• Identify technical risks, compatibility issues and implementation challenges, working with cross-functional teams to resolve them.
• Develop technical documentation, implementation procedures, test plans and operational runbooks.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Ansible or equivalent infrastructure automation and configuration-management tools.
• Experience implementing enterprise SSH key-management platforms.
• Knowledge of SSH certificate-based authentication, PKI, machine identity and cryptographic key management.
• Familiarity with privileged access management and Zero Trust security concepts.
• Experience supporting large-scale Linux-Unix security modernization initiatives.