Senior Software Engineer (Kernel + GPU)

We are looking for someone who is familiar with our stack, understands our tools, is comfortable working remote, enjoys working in open source, and is excited about our mission. At DO, we believe in: Creating simple, yet powerful, foundations (with 💕) from which our community can build. The Infrastructure Kernel team delivers on this mission by ensuring DigitalOcean’s operating system is  performant, reliable, and secure.

Our Stack: C, Linux, Python, Chef, Go, libvirt, KVM, QEMU; all on x64

Our Tools: Jira, Git/Github, Prometheus, Slack, Elasticsearch, GSuite, Concourse, GitHub Actions

Our Team: The person filling this position will report to the Sr. Engineering Manager of the  Kernel, Virtualization, and Performance Team.  This team belongs to the Infrastructure Engineering organization, which is currently made up of a diverse team of mostly senior engineers located across the US, Canada, and Germany, and is supported by a Senior Director of Infrastructure Engineering. The Kernel sub-team creates, deploys, manages, and supports the Linux kernel across the vast cloud of servers throughout the entirety of the business.

While work will vary based on quarterly priorities and initiatives, some examples include:

• Scale one of the fastest growing cloud companies in the world
• Working with the various engineering teams within Digital Ocean and in the greater open source software communities to bring GPU-based capabilities and services to the portfolio of Digital Ocean products
• Managing the complexity of GPU capabilities as new GPU technology is developed/delivered by hardware vendors
• Providing tools and expertise to expose GPU capabilities via qemu/libvirt virtualization
• Informing product teams of technical details that lead to the development of Cloud-based products that take advantage of GPU technology (i.e.: machine learning)
• Improving all aspects of reliability, including monitoring, availability, and documentation
• Debugging mission critical problems in production
• Providing technical details that lead to optimal resource capacity and the management of resource capacity
• Participating in the customization and optimization of DO’s virtualization stack which includes: kernel, kvm, qemu, and libvirt
• 5-20% of your time spent in contributing to open source communities related to Linux kernel development

• Linux expertise and upstream contribution
• Implementing bug fixes and live patches in the Linux kernel or among the various virtualization-stack components
• Implementing new features in the upstream community
• Experience troubleshooting, analyzing, and debugging linux kernel issues
• Experience as a software engineer / developer in a large scale, distributed environment
• Experience writing secure, testable and robust low-level code
• Desirable to have exposure to Python or Go languages, but not required
• Understanding of operating systems, virtualization and Linux internals
• Understanding of kernel security is a plus, but not required
• Some experience proactively addressing software and systems reliability issues across all layers in the stack
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a desire to collaborate with a broad and diverse Infrastructure Engineering team
• An aim to design and build large, distributed systems
• A dedication to solving problems and delivering solutions

• We reward our employees. The base salary range for this position is between $120,000-$145,000 based on relevant years of experience and skills. The salary range for this role is specific to candidates located within the U.S. and will vary for candidates outside the U.S.. The salary range for this position is based on relevant years of experience and skills. Employees may qualify for a bonus in addition to base salary; bonus amounts are determined based on company and individual performance. We also provide equity compensation to eligible employees including grants of equity upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• We value development. You will work with some of the smartest and most interesting people in the industry. We are a high-performance organization that is always challenging our teams and employees to continuously grow. We maintain a growth mindset in everything we do and invest deeply in employee development through formalized mentorship and other internal programs. We provide all employees with reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education.
• We care about your well-being. In addition to cash and equity compensation, we also offer employees a competitive array of benefits. In the United States, these include health insurance, unlimited vacation, retirement benefits, a generous parental leave program, and additional resources to support employees' overall well-being. While the philosophy around our benefits is the same worldwide, specific benefits may vary in other countries due to local regulations and preferences.
• We value diversity and inclusivity. We are an equal opportunity employer and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

*This is a remote role

#LI-Remote