Digital Ocean

4 weeks ago

Staff Software Engineer, Kernel

✓ Verified Job

Canonical indexed version, validated from employer's careers page.

Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI

Last checked: 17 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Lead the design, optimization, and maintenance of the Linux kernel for DigitalOcean's compute and GPU fleets, shaping system performance, resiliency, and security. You will bridge hardware and software, drive system-level architecture, diagnose kernel bottlenecks, mentor engineers, and push upstream patches while collaborating across teams to improve scale and reliability of cloud infrastructure.

Location: Seattle

Workplace: Hybrid

Employment Type: Full time

Job Function: Software Engineering

Key Responsibilities

•Optimize kernels for performance and resiliency across the DigitalOcean fleet for storage, networking, and virtualization
•Drive cross-functional engineering initiatives and influence hardware roadmaps without direct authority
•Define low-level software architecture and tune kernels for low latency, high throughput, and power efficiency
•Diagnose and resolve issues in the kernel and deliver kernel fixes and security mitigations with live patches
•Investigate and resolve virtual machine downtime and kernel issues in production, implement monitoring and alerting of key metrics to drive resiliency

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 191,200 - 239,000 annually

Key Requirements

•Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Computer/Electrical Engineering or equivalent work experience
•Experience maintaining Linux kernels for large-scale cloud infrastructure, with a deep understanding of operating system internals
•Broad knowledge of the Linux kernel and kernel subsystems; demonstrated experience with kernel patching and debugging
•Expertise in C/C++ programming and one or more scripting languages; familiarity with compiler toolchains and build environments
•Experience with Linux virtualization using KVM, QEMU and general understanding of Linux kernel security mechanisms

Experience:Cloud

Education:Bachelor's

Skills:CC++LinuxKernelKVMQEMUPatchingDebuggingBuild systemsScripting

Languages:English

Tech Stack:CC++LinuxKernelKVMQEMUPatchingDebuggingBuild toolsScripting

Company Brief

Digital Ocean

Provides cloud infrastructure and developer-focused cloud services including scalable droplets, managed databases, Kubernetes, object storage, and networking to simplify deploying and managing applications for developers and small-to-medium businesses.

Industry: Cloud Computing

Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)

Revenue: USD 250M to 500M

Growth: Public Company

Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)

Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed

Headquarters: New York, United States

Founded: 2011

Glassdoor: 3.8

Website LinkedIn

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Digital Ocean

4 weeks ago

Staff Software Engineer, Kernel

✓ Verified Job

Canonical indexed version, validated from employer's careers page.

Source: Company careers pageValidated by: Fursa AI

Last checked: 17 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Location: Seattle

Workplace: Hybrid

Employment Type: Full time

Job Function: Software Engineering

Key Responsibilities

•Optimize kernels for performance and resiliency across the DigitalOcean fleet for storage, networking, and virtualization
•Drive cross-functional engineering initiatives and influence hardware roadmaps without direct authority
•Define low-level software architecture and tune kernels for low latency, high throughput, and power efficiency
•Diagnose and resolve issues in the kernel and deliver kernel fixes and security mitigations with live patches
•Investigate and resolve virtual machine downtime and kernel issues in production, implement monitoring and alerting of key metrics to drive resiliency

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 191,200 - 239,000 annually

Key Requirements

•Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Computer/Electrical Engineering or equivalent work experience
•Experience maintaining Linux kernels for large-scale cloud infrastructure, with a deep understanding of operating system internals
•Broad knowledge of the Linux kernel and kernel subsystems; demonstrated experience with kernel patching and debugging
•Expertise in C/C++ programming and one or more scripting languages; familiarity with compiler toolchains and build environments
•Experience with Linux virtualization using KVM, QEMU and general understanding of Linux kernel security mechanisms

Experience:Cloud

Education:Bachelor's

Skills:CC++LinuxKernelKVMQEMUPatchingDebuggingBuild systemsScripting

Languages:English

Tech Stack:CC++LinuxKernelKVMQEMUPatchingDebuggingBuild toolsScripting

Company Brief

Digital Ocean

Industry: Cloud Computing

Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)

Revenue: USD 250M to 500M

Growth: Public Company

Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)

Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed

Headquarters: New York, United States

Founded: 2011

Glassdoor: 3.8

Website LinkedIn