How To Become A Senior Linux Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior linux engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Getting this lead IT role requires some great Linux skills. Senior Linux engineers implement and monitor computer programs of the Linux system. For disaster recovery, these engineers lead their team to create and implement solutions using project management principles. Additionally, they perform several administration support tasks for Linux users. While working with their networking team, these engineers troubleshoot complex procedures related to application issues.

Normally, senior Linux engineers study information technology, electrical engineering, or computer science. A large percentage of these engineers have a bachelor's degree. They display knowledge of Python, Linux, AWS, cloud, Red Hat Satellite, RHEL operating system, or hardware. Moreover, they possess problem-solving, communication, and analytical skills.

Due to the complexity of this role, senior Linux engineers have a decent average hourly rate of $47. This makes their total yearly earnings almost $98,000. In the US, the career is expected to grow in the future, opening more job opportunities for this role.

ScoreSenior Linux EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.9

Avg. Salary $109,623

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.98%

Black or African American 8.02%

Hispanic or Latino 11.74%

Unknown 5.01%

White 60.94%

Gender

female 9.70%

male 90.30%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior linux engineer

Explore senior linux engineer education requirements

Most common senior linux engineer degrees

Bachelor's

74.9 %

Master's

13.4 %

Associate

6.6 %

Start to develop specific senior linux engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Python	9.73%
AWS	4.18%
Cloud	4.14%
Java	4.12%
Bash	3.93%

Complete relevant senior linux engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior linux engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior linux engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior linux engineer resumes.

Research senior linux engineer duties and responsibilities

Experience on shell scripting and bash to accomplish day to day system administration tasks.
Involve in configuring yum repository, RHEL satellite servers and manage rpm's using rpm commands.
Manage and editing Perl scripts and configurations pertinent to the transaction process for the bank and various clients.
Design applications on AWS taking advantage of disaster recovery design guidelines.

Get senior linux engineer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior linux engineer. The most common roles before becoming a senior linux engineer include linux administrator, systems administrator team lead and unix/linux administrator.

Prepare your senior linux engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior linux engineer resume.

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