Openstack Infrastructure Engineer

xneelo (Pty) Ltd

. Build, manage and scale OpenStack compute and storage infrastructure .

Posted 11/5/2026full-timeRemote • South AfricaMid-LevelSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in managing and scaling OpenStack compute and storage infrastructure, with strong capabilities in Linux systems administration, distributed storage systems, and Infrastructure as Code practices. Possesses a security-minded approach to architecture and operational workflows, ensuring reliability and performance across complex IT environments.

Highest-signal resume keywords

OpenStack ImplementationCeph Distributed Storage ManagementLinux Systems AdministrationInfrastructure as CodeSRE Mindset

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

OpenStackCephLinux AdministrationInfrastructure as CodeAutomationNetworking FundamentalsVirtualisationCloud InfrastructureCapacity PlanningPerformance Reasoning

Soft Skills

Technical DocumentationTeam CollaborationConstructive FeedbackProblem SolvingOn-Call Responsiveness

Tools & Technologies

Ubuntu LinuxAnsibleTerraformDockerPrometheusGrafanaGitJiraRundeckLXC

Industry Keywords

Open-Source InfrastructureData-Centre-Grade HardwareOperational WorkflowsFailure DomainsRecovery Procedures

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AnsibleCloudDockerGrafanaLinuxOpenStackPrometheusTerraform

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Build, manage and scale OpenStack compute and storage infrastructure
Operate and troubleshoot open-source infrastructure systems
Implement, operate and troubleshoot OpenStack environments
Manage distributed storage systems such as Ceph, including capacity, replication, failure domains, recovery, latency and performance
Administer and troubleshoot Linux systems
Work with data-centre-grade hardware and assess its impact on reliability and performance
Troubleshoot compute, storage, networking, databases, message queues, containers, hypervisors and guest workloads
Manage virtualisation and cloud infrastructure at scale
Design and operate secure architecture, automation, access control and operational workflows
Reduce failure probability, recovery time, operational risk and data-loss exposure using an SRE approach
Develop Infrastructure as Code, configuration management and automation
Plan and execute upgrades, migrations and high-impact infrastructure changes
Own infrastructure end-to-end from physical infrastructure and network fabric through OpenStack services to customer workloads
Reason about infrastructure capacity and performance
Use AI-assisted tools for research, troubleshooting, documentation and automation while applying engineering judgement, peer review and testing
Produce technical documentation, architecture decisions, runbooks, change plans, incident findings and recovery procedures
Contribute to technical reviews and respond to detailed feedback
Participate in an on-call rotation through Rootly and respond to occasional out-of-hours incidents, maintenance or operational requests

Requirements

What you’ll need

Experience operating open-source infrastructure systems; extensive experience expected at senior level
OpenStack implementation, operations or troubleshooting experience
Experience with Ceph or similar distributed storage systems, including capacity, replication, failure domains, recovery, latency and performance
Strong Linux systems administration and troubleshooting skills
Practical knowledge of data-centre-grade hardware, including enterprise servers, CPUs, memory, storage media, NICs, firmware and out-of-band management
Understanding of how hardware design, power, cooling, rack layout and component failure affect platform reliability and performance
Strong networking fundamentals; experience with OVN, OVS, BGP underlays, LACP, Juniper, IPv4, IPv6 and physical or virtual cloud networks advantageous
Ability to troubleshoot across compute, storage, physical and virtual networking, databases, message queues, containers, hypervisors and guest workloads
Experience with virtualisation and cloud infrastructure at scale
Security-minded approach to architecture, automation, access control and operational workflows
SRE mindset focused on reducing failure probability, recovery time, operational risk and data-loss exposure
Experience with Infrastructure as Code, configuration management and automation practices
Preference for repeatable, version-controlled automation over undocumented manual work
Discipline planning and executing upgrades, migrations and high-impact infrastructure changes
Strong end-to-end ownership from physical infrastructure and network fabric through OpenStack services to customer workloads
Ability to reason about capacity and performance across CPU, memory, storage, IOPS, latency, throughput, packet rates and control-plane scale
Ability to use AI-assisted tools productively while understanding their limitations
Clear technical documentation skills, including architecture decisions, runbooks, change plans, incident findings and recovery procedures
Ability to contribute constructively to technical reviews, challenge unsafe assumptions and respond well to detailed feedback
Ability to work effectively in a distributed, largely asynchronous team
Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation managed through Rootly and respond to occasional out-of-hours incidents, maintenance or operational requests
Experience with a reasonable number of the listed tools or similar: Ubuntu Linux, Ansible, OpenStack, Ceph, Terraform, Rundeck, LXC, Nspawn, OVN, OVS, BGP, JunOS, LACP, Docker, Prometheus, Grafana, Git and Jira
Ability to use infrastructure tools to innovate, solve complex IT infrastructure problems and work as a strong team player
Must reside in South Africa

Benefits

Comp & perks

Salary negotiable, commensurate with skills and track record
High level of discretion and autonomy
Distributed, largely asynchronous team environment