Software Support Engineer - Destin, Florida

Based in Destin, Florida, we are in the process of creating and deploying an enterprise-scale OpenStack cloud, based on Ubuntu Server and its associated technologies, for a large Air Force Customer.

No two days are the same in Support Engineering. We engage in challenging problems to solve, constantly pick each other’s brains and our minds are always abuzz with ideas for helping our customers to make the most of their Ubuntu systems. We are rapidly expanding and are looking for talented professionals with a passion for problem solving and working on the next generation of Ubuntu solutions for our customers.

Role Description

A Software Support Engineer must be a self-motivating and self-managing person who can learn complex technologies quickly. The Software Support Engineer will be embedded within the customer team and be accountable for providing an outstanding technical support experience to our customer.

Your duties will include acting as the primary point of contact for OpenStack support issues, as well as providing Ubuntu Server and Cloud expertise to the Mission Owners at Eglin AFB. This allows the customer to gain proactive support and services as an integral component of the engineering team.

The Software Support Engineer will be directly available to the client with the assistance of a Canonical Project Manager and the Canonical Support & Technical Services team. Each day you will have to make judgment calls regarding your ticket queue, prioritizing it to maximize your effectiveness while setting aside time to learn about our new products and technologies. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Take ownership of new support cases via telephone, email and Web.
• Qualify a customer inquiry by collecting the relevant facts.
• Investigate issues reported by customers by doing your own research and involving others on the team as necessary.
• On-site customer support working to resolve complex customer problems related to Ubuntu OpenStack technologies, Juju, MAAS, charms, as well as general Ubuntu Server 
• Manage support escalations and issue prioritization, acting  as a customer advocate.
• Provide architectural design and recommendations for Ubuntu and Canonical technologies (MAAS, Juju, Landscape, etc.).
• Act as the named, dedicated contact for support issues for the customer OpenStack
• Participate in regular calls with customers and Canonical to discuss project direction.
• Liaise with various engineering teams to triage and resolve customer issues.
• Ensure that each support case owned by you is handled as per our Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the highest possible customer satisfaction by setting the right expectations and fulfilling your commitments.
• Maintain a proactive approach to customer happiness, identifying and correcting customer satisfaction concerns before they become problems.
• Contribute your findings to a common knowledge base and keep it up to date.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 5 years experience of supporting Linux systems in enterprise environments.
• Senior Level Linux Professional LPIC-3 (or equivalent) certification or experience.
• TS/SCI Clearance or Ability to Hold A Clearance
• Extensive experience with OpenStack, virtualization and other Cloud technologies.
• Automated Linux provisioning and advanced configuration with MAAS and Juju.
• Advanced system administration tasks (auditing, monitoring, logging, performance tuning, capacity planning, etc.).
• Advanced troubleshooting (up to core dump analysis and kernel dump analysis desirable).
• 5+ Years Experience in one of more of the following areas:
• Advanced storage (RAID, LVM, SAN, file system tuning, etc.)
• Advanced networking (bonding, firewalling, bridging, switching, network file system tuning, etc.)
• Clustering, cloud computing (provisioning, monitoring, orchestration, etc.)
• Linux integration with other environments (authentication/directory services, network file systems, etc.)
• Development level and troubleshooting experience with Bash, C and Python.
• Experience with Ubuntu or Debian.  Must be able to understand Ubuntu OS bugs and advise on next steps, acting as a generalist when necessary.

DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• 5+ Years Debian packaging experience and knowledge of Ubuntu development 
• Proven Open Source development skills using current and accepted open source tooling and troubleshooting methodologies.
• Familiarity with Open Source process and community practices 
• Proficient with programming languages other than Bash, C and Python (Perl, Ruby, JavaScript, Go, etc.).