STEM OPT Linux Engineer Jobs
Linux Engineer roles qualify for STEM OPT because they fall under computer science and information technology CIP codes recognized by ICE. Your STEM degree gives you a 24-month OPT extension beyond the initial 12 months, but your employer must be enrolled in E-Verify before you can start.
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About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Job Description
Information Research at AbbVie partners with pharmaceutical R&D scientists to deliver technical solutions for complex scientific needs. This role offers the opportunity to work alongside scientists and technology professionals, solve everyday challenges, and help advance the digital transformation of drug discovery teams.
We are seeking a collaborative, curious early-career engineer who enjoys learning and applying practical technology to meaningful business problems. Working collaboratively with senior engineers, you will support scientific and Linux technology teams across the business-system life cycle—from identifying needs and defining requirements through implementation, testing, operational support, and change—while contributing ideas and developing within a diverse, energetic, and innovative Linux team.
Responsibilities
- Support Linux engineering activities in enterprise environments, including operations, maintenance, health checks, monitoring, configuration, access and file-system management, and issue resolution, with guidance from senior engineers.
- Assist with operating-system patching, software installs and updates, certificate management, and configuration changes under approved procedures, change controls, maintenance schedules, security requirements, and senior guidance.
- Learn and apply Linux, infrastructure services, automation, and enterprise standards to support secure, reliable, reproducible, and timely outcomes.
- Use Ansible and configuration-management tools to support standardized configurations, repeatable automation, and the maintenance of scripts and workflows; contribute ideas for automation and AI-enabled automation.
- Assist with troubleshooting Linux systems, applications, infrastructure services, and automation workflows using logs, system behavior, performance indicators, and operational results; document findings and escalate significant or recurring issues.
- Contribute to the testing, documentation, implementation, and verification of infrastructure changes and deployments across on-premises, virtualized, and cloud environments.
- Develop and maintain clear technical documentation with guidance, including procedures, runbooks, configuration, and automation records, troubleshooting guides, and support hand-off materials.
- Work closely with senior engineers and infrastructure, cybersecurity, application, platform, and service partners to coordinate maintenance, resolve issues, support projects, and learn practices that improve Linux reliability and security.
- Learn and follow corporate and divisional standards, policies, and procedures for conduct, safety, GxP compliance, data integrity, cybersecurity, access and change control, incident management, and the software development lifecycle.
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor’s Degree with 2 years of relevant experience; OR Master’s Degree with no additional experience.
- Foundational experience or coursework with Ubuntu, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or other enterprise Linux distributions.
- Foundational theoretical and practical knowledge of Linux operating systems and standard administration practices, with interest in continuing to develop these skills.
- Exposure to routine Linux administration, including patching, software installs and updates, service management, configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- Basic understanding of enterprise infrastructure, including servers, storage, networking, virtualization, cloud, authentication, access controls, and system dependencies.
- Ability to review logs, command output, monitoring data, and incident details to help identify issues and contribute to root-cause analysis under guidance.
- Familiarity with security and operational practices, including vulnerability remediation, certificate management, least-privilege access, backups, change control, and system hardening.
- Ability to create clear, accurate technical documentation and operational records with appropriate review.
- Effective communication, collaboration, organization, problem-solving, and teamwork skills; able to work constructively with senior engineers and cross-functional partners.
- Curiosity and willingness to learn and apply new technologies, tools, methods, and procedures as business and technology needs evolve; openness to sharing ideas and learning from feedback.
Preferred:
- Exposure to Ansible Tower/AWX or similar platforms, including playbook execution, troubleshooting, and basic development or maintenance.
- Familiarity with Bash, Python, JavaScript, .NET, Shell scripting, or similar technologies, with interest in developing automation skills.
- Exposure / Familiarity with Git or other source-control tools.
- Exposure to public or private cloud environments; AWS experience is a plus.
- Familiarity with enterprise monitoring, logging, vulnerability-management, or IT service-management tools.
- Exposure to regulated, validated, or GxP environments.
- Foundational knowledge of TLS/SSL certificates, public key infrastructure, DNS, LDAP, Active Directory, and related services.
- Relevant Linux, cloud, automation, or cybersecurity certification or interest in pursuing one.
- Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with an approachable and collaborative working style.
Additional Information
Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:
- The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.
- We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.
- This job is eligible to participate in our short-term incentive programs.
Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.
AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.
US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html
US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:
https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html
Company Description
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology, and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Job Description
Information Research at AbbVie partners with pharmaceutical R&D scientists to deliver technical solutions for complex scientific needs. This role offers the opportunity to work alongside scientists and technology professionals, solve everyday challenges, and help advance the digital transformation of drug discovery teams.
We are seeking a collaborative, curious early-career engineer who enjoys learning and applying practical technology to meaningful business problems. Working collaboratively with senior engineers, you will support scientific and Linux technology teams across the business-system life cycle—from identifying needs and defining requirements through implementation, testing, operational support, and change—while contributing ideas and developing within a diverse, energetic, and innovative Linux team.
Responsibilities
- Support Linux engineering activities in enterprise environments, including operations, maintenance, health checks, monitoring, configuration, access and file-system management, and issue resolution, with guidance from senior engineers.
- Assist with operating-system patching, software installs and updates, certificate management, and configuration changes under approved procedures, change controls, maintenance schedules, security requirements, and senior guidance.
- Learn and apply Linux, infrastructure services, automation, and enterprise standards to support secure, reliable, reproducible, and timely outcomes.
- Use Ansible and configuration-management tools to support standardized configurations, repeatable automation, and the maintenance of scripts and workflows; contribute ideas for automation and AI-enabled automation.
- Assist with troubleshooting Linux systems, applications, infrastructure services, and automation workflows using logs, system behavior, performance indicators, and operational results; document findings and escalate significant or recurring issues.
- Contribute to the testing, documentation, implementation, and verification of infrastructure changes and deployments across on-premises, virtualized, and cloud environments.
- Develop and maintain clear technical documentation with guidance, including procedures, runbooks, configuration, and automation records, troubleshooting guides, and support hand-off materials.
- Work closely with senior engineers and infrastructure, cybersecurity, application, platform, and service partners to coordinate maintenance, resolve issues, support projects, and learn practices that improve Linux reliability and security.
- Learn and follow corporate and divisional standards, policies, and procedures for conduct, safety, GxP compliance, data integrity, cybersecurity, access and change control, incident management, and the software development lifecycle.
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor’s Degree with 2 years of relevant experience; OR Master’s Degree with no additional experience.
- Foundational experience or coursework with Ubuntu, CentOS, Rocky Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or other enterprise Linux distributions.
- Foundational theoretical and practical knowledge of Linux operating systems and standard administration practices, with interest in continuing to develop these skills.
- Exposure to routine Linux administration, including patching, software installs and updates, service management, configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- Basic understanding of enterprise infrastructure, including servers, storage, networking, virtualization, cloud, authentication, access controls, and system dependencies.
- Ability to review logs, command output, monitoring data, and incident details to help identify issues and contribute to root-cause analysis under guidance.
- Familiarity with security and operational practices, including vulnerability remediation, certificate management, least-privilege access, backups, change control, and system hardening.
- Ability to create clear, accurate technical documentation and operational records with appropriate review.
- Effective communication, collaboration, organization, problem-solving, and teamwork skills; able to work constructively with senior engineers and cross-functional partners.
- Curiosity and willingness to learn and apply new technologies, tools, methods, and procedures as business and technology needs evolve; openness to sharing ideas and learning from feedback.
Preferred:
- Exposure to Ansible Tower/AWX or similar platforms, including playbook execution, troubleshooting, and basic development or maintenance.
- Familiarity with Bash, Python, JavaScript, .NET, Shell scripting, or similar technologies, with interest in developing automation skills.
- Exposure / Familiarity with Git or other source-control tools.
- Exposure to public or private cloud environments; AWS experience is a plus.
- Familiarity with enterprise monitoring, logging, vulnerability-management, or IT service-management tools.
- Exposure to regulated, validated, or GxP environments.
- Foundational knowledge of TLS/SSL certificates, public key infrastructure, DNS, LDAP, Active Directory, and related services.
- Relevant Linux, cloud, automation, or cybersecurity certification or interest in pursuing one.
- Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with an approachable and collaborative working style.
Additional Information
Applicable only to applicants applying to a position in any location with pay disclosure requirements under state or local law:
- The compensation range described below is the range of possible base pay compensation that the Company believes in good faith it will pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors including geographic location, and we may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future.
- We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick), medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.
- This job is eligible to participate in our short-term incentive programs.
Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, incentive, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole and absolute discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, consistent with applicable law.
AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.
US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html
US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:
https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html
See all STEM OPT Linux Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new STEM OPT Linux Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding STEM OPT Authorization as a Linux Engineer
Verify your CIP code matches Linux engineering
Check your degree's CIP code against ICE's STEM-designated degree program list before applying. Degrees in computer science, computer engineering, and information technology typically qualify, but your DSO must confirm the match before recommending the extension.
Confirm E-Verify enrollment before accepting offers
Ask recruiting contacts directly whether the company is enrolled in E-Verify before your first interview. Employers not enrolled cannot legally employ STEM OPT students, and switching employers after accepting an offer costs you weeks of job search time.
Use Migrate Mate to filter Linux roles by sponsorship history
Search Linux Engineer openings on Migrate Mate, which surfaces employers with verified work authorization filing history. This cuts the time you spend screening companies that have never hired international students.
Target employers with existing Linux infrastructure teams
Companies running large-scale Linux environments in finance, cloud infrastructure, and defense contracting hire Linux Engineers in volume and already have E-Verify and international hiring workflows in place. Prioritize these over startups building their first DevOps pipeline.
File your I-983 training plan with role-specific learning goals
Your I-983 must list concrete Linux engineering skills you'll develop, such as kernel configuration, system hardening, or automation with Ansible. Generic objectives get flagged by DSOs. Align the plan directly to your offer letter's job duties.
Time your STEM OPT application around your OPT end date
USCIS recommends filing the STEM OPT extension application at least 90 days before your initial OPT expires. If USCIS hasn't adjudicated by your expiration date, your work authorization automatically continues for up to 180 days while the application is pending.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Linux Engineer role qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
Yes, provided your underlying degree carries a STEM-designated CIP code. Roles classified under computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or related fields typically qualify. The O*NET occupation code for Linux and systems engineers maps to computer occupations that USCIS and ICE recognize as STEM-eligible. Your DSO confirms the match and recommends the extension on your I-20.
What does the E-Verify requirement mean for my Linux Engineer job search?
Every employer who hires you on STEM OPT must be enrolled in E-Verify before your first day of work. E-Verify is a federal system that confirms work authorization electronically. If a company isn't enrolled, you cannot legally accept the role on STEM OPT. Migrate Mate filters Linux Engineer listings to show employers with relevant hiring history, which narrows your search to companies already familiar with this requirement.
What goes into the I-983 training plan for a Linux Engineer position?
Your I-983 must describe specific technical skills you'll develop on the job, the supervision structure, how the employer will evaluate your progress, and how the training connects to your STEM degree. For Linux Engineers, this typically includes skills like system administration, security hardening, network configuration, or infrastructure automation. Your employer's designated supervisor signs the form, and your DSO countersigns before USCIS reviews your application.
How does cap-gap protection apply if I'm a Linux Engineer waiting on H-1B approval?
If your employer files an H-1B visa petition on your behalf before your STEM OPT expires, cap-gap automatically extends your work authorization through September 30 of that fiscal year. You can continue working as a Linux Engineer in your current role under the same employer during this period. USCIS confirms cap-gap eligibility through the receipt notice on the I-129 petition.
Can I work as a Linux Engineer contractor or through a staffing agency on STEM OPT?
You can work through a staffing agency only if the agency itself is enrolled in E-Verify and is your employer of record, meaning they pay your wages and control your work. If the end client directs your day-to-day tasks but the agency pays you, the agency must be E-Verify enrolled. Your I-983 training plan must name the employer of record, not the end client, as the supervising organization.