Unix Administrator / Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Unix Administrator or Engineer installs, configures, and maintains UNIX operating systems operating within a business. Analyzes and resolves problems associated with the operating system's servers, hardware, applications, and software. Detects, diagnoses, and reports UNIX related problems on servers.
Job Outlook
There were 443 Unix Administrator / Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 15775 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Network / Systems Administrator industry, which includes the Unix Administrator / Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Unix Administrator / Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $110,729.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $109,261.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Unix Administrator / Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $97,258.
Education and Experience
Posted Unix Administrator / Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 55.5% |
| Master's Degree | 10.6% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.31% |
| Other | 9.62% |
Posted Unix Administrator / Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 16.44% |
| 3 to 5 years | 42.26% |
| 6 to 8 years | 23.37% |
| 9+ years | 17.93% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Unix Administrator / Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (44.84%)
- Communication (36.45%)
- Management (35.04%)
- Operations (25.55%)
- Problem Solving (24.49%)
- Information Technology (14.1%)
- Customer Service (12.66%)
- Planning (12.46%)
- Self-Motivation (10.91%)
- Leadership (10.39%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Bash (Scripting Language) (26.92%)
- Operating Systems (40.76%)
- Computer Science (31%)
- Linux (87.38%)
- Automation (36.69%)
- Linux Servers (18.02%)
- Unix (24.62%)
- Ubuntu (Operating System) (16.79%)
- CentOS (10.5%)
- Linux On Embedded Systems (4.75%)
- Python (Programming Language) (40.82%)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (30.43%)
- Linux Administration (18.49%)
- Ansible (31.28%)
- Scripting (35.1%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Puppet (Configuration Management Tool) (11.87%)
- Agile Methodology (8.45%)
- C (Programming Language) (11.96%)
- Backup Devices (8.99%)
- Git (Version Control System) (12.04%)
- Active Directory (9.11%)
- Change Management (5.72%)
- Technical Support (7.29%)
- Microsoft Azure (12.47%)
- Configuration Management (15.85%)
- Debugging (12.06%)
- File Systems (9.04%)
- Disaster Recovery (8%)
- Perl (Programming Language) (13.27%)
- MySQL (5.58%)
- Systems Engineering (21.08%)
- Amazon Web Services (17.28%)
- Auditing (8.39%)
- System Administration (27.33%)
- Software Development (11.32%)
- Shell Script (9.69%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (10.54%)
- TCP/IP (10.41%)
- Firewall (8.78%)
- Containerization (5.73%)
- DevOps (9.79%)
- Vulnerability (10.36%)
- CI/CD (8.09%)
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library (4.21%)
- Kubernetes (14.47%)
- Lightweight Directory Access Protocols (9.79%)
- Docker (Software) (14.05%)
- PostgreSQL (3.14%)
- Windows PowerShell (7.8%)
- Software Engineering (14.05%)
- Hardening (10.77%)
- Virtualization (13.88%)
- Terraform (6.5%)
- Internet Of Things (IoT) (4.63%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Boot Loaders (2.25%)
- Logical Volume Manager (2.92%)
- Linux Distribution (4.62%)
- Linux Kernel (7.64%)
- Debian Linux (8.36%)
- Network File Systems (6.34%)
- Solaris (Operating System) (4.54%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Ubuntu (Operating System) (22.87%)
- CentOS (14.3%)
- Computer Science (42.21%)
- Operating Systems (55.5%)
- Linux On Embedded Systems (6.47%)
- Linux Administration (25.17%)
- Solaris (Operating System) (6.19%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Unix Administrator / Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Linux System Administrator
- Linux Administrator
- Linux Engineer
- Linux Systems Engineer
- Linux Kernel Engineer
- Linux Software Engineer
- Unix Administrator
- Linux Windows Systems Administrator
- Embedded Linux Software Engineer
- Red Hat Linux Administrator
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Systems Administrator
- VMware Engineer / Administrator
- Systems Engineer
- Windows Administrator
- DevOps Engineer
- IT Administrator
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Unix Administrator / Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Canonical Group (1219)
- Leidos (332)
- Raytheon Technologies (247)
- GovCIO (198)
- Insight Global (192)
- Northrop Grumman (190)
- Allegis Group (166)
- Lockheed Martin (144)
- Amazon (134)
- General Dynamics (132)
North Carolina
- Canonical Group (45)
- TEKsystems (15)
- Allegis Group (15)
- Motion Recruitment (14)
- Randstad (9)
- CompQsoft (8)
- Akkodis (8)
- ASGN (7)
- Labcorp (6)
- Focused Hr Solutions (6)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.