Thekla, Inc. is a small game development studio known for creating thoughtful, high-quality experiences. We’re looking for a part-time Systems/DevOps Engineer to help set up, optimize, and maintain our development infrastructure. This is a flexible, mostly on-site role in Denver, CO, ideal for an independent consultant or freelancer.

The Role

This position starts with a heavier lift (system setup, migration, optimization) and will transition into a light ongoing maintenance cadence (a few hours per week) to ensure everything continues to run smoothly. You’ll be proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable owning the health of our infrastructure without requiring constant direction.

Initial Priorities (First 1–2 Months)

• Set up and configure machine hardware, troubleshoot flaky machines, and convert selected systems to 4U rackmount enclosures.
• Ensure backups are running properly for source control and other archival data.
• Manage hostname/domain registration; consolidate into a new registrar, cleaning up legacy records from IBM.
• Migrate web server and source control from rented bare-metal servers to on-premises machines.
• Configure Cloudflare caching for our web server.
• Profile machine performance under load (e.g., tests, lightmap baking) and identify limiting factors (CPU, RAM, disk I/O, etc.), with recommendations for optimization.

Ongoing Responsibilities

• Weekly/biweekly systems health check and tune-up.
• Monitor and maintain backups, domain renewals, and infrastructure performance.
• Proactively identify risks, inefficiencies, or failures before they impact the team.
• More tasks as they pop up.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong Linux systems administration skills, as well as some level of comfort with Windows.
• Experience with on-site and remote server setup, configuration, and migration.
• Networking fundamentals (DNS, domain registration, caching/CDN setup).
• Familiarity with performance profiling at the system level.
• Comfortable working in a small, high-expectation team with minimal bureaucracy.
• Proactive, resourceful, and communicative — able to explain technical concepts clearly to non-technical team members.

Nice to Have

• Cloudflare configuration experience.
• Previous work in game development or high-performance computing environments.

Details

• Location: Denver, CO (on-site work required for hardware setup/maintenance).
• Engagement: Part-time, starting with more hours during initial setup, tapering to a few hours/week.
• Contract/Freelance arrangement preferred.
• Rate: Competitive; commensurate with experience.

To Apply

If interested, please fill out the application form with your resume, a link to your portfolio (optional), and the following:

• A short summary of relevant experience.
• Examples of infrastructure you’ve set up/maintained.
• References from previous clients or employers (preferred).