--- title: 'Principal Linux Security Engineer at CIQ' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/principal-linux-security-engineer-ciq-remote-00bph1qemyvn' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-18' --- # Principal Linux Security Engineer at CIQ - **Company:** CIQ - **Location:** Remote - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-10-06 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ciq/jobs/5444768008 ## Job description ## CIQ OVERVIEW CIQ builds the enterprise infrastructure that powers the world's most demanding workloads. From the operating system layer through AI infrastructure, high-performance computing, and cloud-native orchestration, CIQ delivers the speed, security, scalability, and sovereignty that major enterprises, government agencies, and research institutions depend on. CIQ is the founding support and services partner of Rocky Linux and the developer of the RLC Pro family of Enterprise Linux distributions, Fuzzball workload orchestration, Warewulf Pro cluster provisioning, and Ascender Pro automation. Our customers include some of the largest and most technically sophisticated organizations in the world, working across HPC, AI/ML, defense, and regulated industries. We are a company of builders, operators, and open source practitioners. If you want to do work that matters, at a company that is genuinely changing how enterprise infrastructure gets built and run, we want to talk. ## POSITION SUMMARY This isn't a traditional job description. It describes the specific person we're looking for: an engineer who understands the Linux operating system from a security perspective. What does that mean in practice? Here is what we need from this role: - How security errata works in an operating system (CSAF, VEX, Advisories) and how to create them and use them in various aspects of the systems, from updateinfo in repos to a security feed for security scanners to ingest. - Compliance on an operating system - Building out STIG and DIS profiles. Understanding how to improve OpenSCAP and building Ansible scripts to apply the security profiles, not just applying scripts that someone else built. - Proactive security in an operating system, like build flags, LKRG, SELinux. How to really secure the OS in a way that also allows it to be usable. Not hooking it up to the internet is not an acceptable security answer. - How to build tools to make the above happen faster and interact with AI to speed up development, testing, and release. - CVE scoring - How they are scored and what that means.  It doesn’t mean that you know how to look up a score in NIST, but it means you have used the CVSS calculator and you know why it is scored a 7.8 vs. a 5.5 - CVE affectedness - You understand how to determine if a piece of software is affected by a CVE and how different aspects of build and configuration change the affectedness. Is This Role Right for You? If the requirements above don't resonate with your experience, this position is likely not the right fit. If you meet most of them, we'd like to hear from you. We're looking for candidates who are genuinely engaged with this work, so we ask that automated or mass applications be avoided. ## EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE - Proven work experience in Security and/or Linux Engineering with a focus on the Linux OS. - At least 4 years of experience doing security in Linux and at least 2 years of experience building Linux Packages ## BENEFITS - Medical, dental, and vision insurance. - Flexible paid time off. - Employee stock options. - Remote work; no travel required for most positions. ## About CIQ ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: CIQ provides enterprise-grade, FIPS-validated software infrastructure for AI, HPC, and regulated environments, built around Rocky Linux and open-source orchestration tools. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series A; raised $26M total funding) - **Headquarters**: Reno, Nevada, USA - **Founded**: 2020 - **Founders**: Gregory Kurtzer (CEO) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Enterprise infrastructure software, AI/HPC orchestration, Linux and open-source support. - **Target customers**: Large enterprises, research institutions, and government agencies requiring secure, compliant, and scalable Linux-based infrastructure. B2B, Enterprise. - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Simplify and unify software infrastructure, enabling you to craft groundbreaking technologies for the generations to come.” [ciq.com](https://ciq.com/company/about) ## Products & Services - **RLC Pro (Rocky Linux Commercial Pro)**: The commercial, enterprise-grade binary-compatible Linux distribution based on Rocky Linux. Includes LTS, FIPS 140-3 validated cryptography, and CAVP-certified post-quantum algorithms. Tiered versions include RLC Pro Hardened (for CMMC, CNSA 2.0) and RLC Pro AI (pre-integrated with NVIDIA CUDA/DOCA and AMD ROCm). - **Fuzzball**: A high-performance orchestration platform for AI and HPC workloads across on-premises and multi-cloud environments. - **Warewulf Pro**: Stateless cluster provisioning at scale, ensuring every node boots from a known state. - **Ascender Pro**: An open, enterprise-grade IT automation platform for managing complex workflows across the entire stack. - **Enterprise Support & Consulting**: Direct access to Linux and HPC engineers for production support, custom training, and hands-on consulting. - **Training**: Customized training on Linux, IT automation, HPC, and AI infrastructure, available in-person or virtually. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: Total funding of $26M (Series A). Reported 2.75M+ Rocky Linux instances and 250k average monthly downloads. [ciq.com](https://ciq.com/) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Key partners include NVIDIA and AMD (pre-integrated GPU stacks). Investors not fully detailed on public site. - **Growth Signals**: 90% of Fortune 100 companies are reported users. Headcount growth trends show +66.7% yearly increase in job postings. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ctrliq) Amazon Linux 2 end-of-life (June 2026) provides a significant market migration opportunity to Rocky Linux. ## Competitive Advantages - **Rocky Linux Ownership**: As the founding commercial support and services partner of Rocky Linux, CIQ has direct influence and deep expertise in the most popular CentOS replacement. - **Full-Stack Integration**: Pre-validated NVIDIA and AMD GPU stacks (CUDA, DOCA, ROCm) eliminate driver matching and kernel conflicts, offering a ready-to-run AI infrastructure. - **Compliance and Security**: FIPS 140-3, CAVP, and CMMC certifications make CIQ a go-to for regulated industries and government contracts. - **Open-Source Core**: Built on open-source communities (Rocky Linux, Warewulf, Fuzzball), ensuring transparency and community innovation while providing enterprise-grade support. ## Strategic Focus - **AI Infrastructure**: Optimizing the OS and orchestration layers specifically for GPU-accelerated AI workloads, targeting the growing enterprise AI market. - **Regulated Environments**: Deepening compliance capabilities (CNSA 2.0, CMMC) to serve federal and defense sectors. - **Migration from Amazon Linux 2**: Capitalizing on the June 2026 end-of-life deadline to attract AWS-native enterprises seeking a stable, compliant alternative. - **Open-Source Ecosystem**: Continuing to invest in and lead the Rocky Linux and related open-source communities to drive adoption and innovation. ## Why Work Here - **100% Remote**: Full remote flexibility is a core offering. [ciq.com](https://ciq.com/company/careers) - **Culture of Ownership**: Emphasis on accountability, “startup mode” efficiency, and a “customer first” philosophy. - **Work with Industry Pioneers**: Collaborate with the creator of Rocky Linux and other open-source and HPC veterans. - **Comprehensive Benefits**: Healthcare, vision, dental, flexible PTO, and growth opportunities. - **Open and Humble Environment**: Culture built on mutual respect, diversity, and constructive feedback, with a “no-drama” policy. ## Sources 1. [ciq.com](https://ciq.com/) 2. [ciq.com - About](https://ciq.com/company/about) 3. [ciq.com - Careers](https://ciq.com/company/careers) 4. [ciq.com - Leadership](https://ciq.com/company/leadership) 5. [linkedin.com - CIQ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ctrliq) ## Other roles at CIQ - [Channel Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/channel-sales-manager-ciq-remote-7anh66f2gmmm) - [Senior/Principal Linux Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-principal-linux-engineer-ciq-remote-q8vm6x298bc3) - [Linux Kernel Development Engineer - Live Patching](https://feeny.ai/job/linux-kernel-development-engineer-live-patching-ciq-remote-bqzebttkscyb) - [HPC Development Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hpc-development-engineer-ciq-remote-z1adq5knrcga) - [Sr. Linux Solutions Architect](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-linux-solutions-architect-ciq-remote-w1hk1mdaehpp) - [Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/account-executive-ciq-remote-nvx7e42cg25f) - [Sr. Customer Support Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-customer-support-engineer-ciq-remote-f8nv977b643g) - [Regional Sales Director - West Coast](https://feeny.ai/job/regional-sales-director-west-coast-ciq-remote-5meacybc13c3)