Senior Linux/Python Engineer: Resolve Deployment & Recovery Blocker (Capped Quote)

We need an experienced hands-on Linux/Python deployment and recovery engineer to take technical ownership of resolving a commissioning blocker on an existing physical Ubuntu research server. We want a fixed-price bid for a working, verified solution—not an open-ended assessment or a server rebuild. THE JOB The server has previously run our research workload. We have existing source code, Git history, deployment scripts, systemd services/timers, SQLite state, a file-based command queue, test results and incident records. This is not a proven hardware failure, and we have not established that the research application itself is broken. Our commissioning checkpoint (S1) requires evidence that the installed software matches the approved source and that a controlled deployment/maintenance operation cannot overlap incompatible activity or unintentionally dispatch queued work. The current deployment/recovery and verification route has not demonstrated that end to end. Earlier attempts left uncertainty that must be handled honestly, without assuming missing evidence proves nothing ran. We need you to use the existing evidence, identify the simplest supported route, implement only necessary changes after approval, and demonstrate the completed operating procedure and its failure/return behavior. Challenge unnecessary complexity; preserve the existing system and research records. DELIVERABLES / ACCEPTANCE 1. A concrete end-to-end plan tied to the actual source and operating conditions, with explicit assumptions, access needs, stop conditions and acceptance checks. 2. The necessary Linux/Python/systemd/SQLite integration or corrections, with changes recorded in Git and exact source-to-installed identity evidence. 3. Applicable isolated tests, including failure cases, before approved live work. Show how concurrent activity and command-queue dispatch are controlled during the operation. 4. An approved, bounded execution that resolves the agreed S1 blocker, with preserved results suitable for separate technical review. 5. A practical failure/return procedure, including what can and cannot be recovered after a stall or loss of access. No claim of guaranteed recovery is required; limitations must be explicit. 6. A concise operator handoff, configuration/dependency records and repeatable verification instructions. The owner should not have to become the developer or improvise recovery commands. Later qualification and research operation are separate acceptance stages; this job must establish the agreed prerequisites and handoff, not promise profitable research results. EXPERIENCE REQUIRED Strong hands-on Ubuntu/Linux administration and recovery, systemd service/timer ordering and process isolation, Python, SQLite transaction/WAL behavior, filesystem permissions, Git and reproducible deployment. Please provide two comparable completed projects and explain your own contribution. We welcome qualified experts worldwide. ENGAGEMENT One coordinated technical lead; our existing technical team supplies evidence and assists, with independent review of the result. Remote work; the owner can provide bounded physical keyboard/monitor assistance when agreed. No unsolicited connections or changes. Access, privileged actions and live maintenance require explicit approval. No reset, reinstall, deletion, broad redesign or subcontracting without agreement. Credentials and private evidence are not included in this public post. YOUR PROPOSAL - Your relevant experience and the person who will do the work. - Your proposed approach and the minimum evidence needed to confirm scope. - A fixed total price or firm not-to-exceed quote, with outcome-based milestones, inclusions, exclusions and assumptions. Do not submit only an hourly rate. - Earliest availability, estimated elapsed time and working-hour overlap with US Pacific time. - The evidence that will demonstrate completion and your plan if a prerequisite makes the route infeasible. If the supplied evidence is insufficient for a firm quote, identify the specific missing facts before committing. Do not conceal paid discovery inside a completion quote. We are collecting proposals now; no hiring, spending or access is authorized until the owner separately approves the complete terms.