DevOps Engineer (Vac DST)

iftother; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

iftother is seeking a skilled Systems Engineer to evaluate performance and reliability of large-scale distributed experiments. You will build and tune benchmark infrastructure, automate test workflows, observe system behavior, and translate findings into actionable guidance with researchers and engineers.

You will configure Kubernetes clusters for massive experiments, optimize scalability, and set up Grafana/Prometheus/Loki based observability.

Qualifications

• Frontier-level Kubernetes expertise in production or research environments.
• Strong knowledge of cloud, Linux, and networking for distributed/peer-to-peer systems.
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging stacks.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or Helm.
• Python or another scripting language proficiency.
• Excellent written and spoken communication; ability to work with researchers and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Configure and optimize Kubernetes clusters for large-scale experiments and benchmarks.
• Improve cluster scalability and resource use as test scenarios grow.
• Set up and maintain monitoring/logging/observability (Grafana/Prometheus/Loki).
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers to simplify experiments, analysis, and reproducibility.
• Automate infrastructure and deployment workflows to boost reliability and reduce manual work.
• Profile workloads, troubleshoot distributed systems, and coordinate with development teams.

Skills

Kubernetes

Cloud infrastructure

Linux

Networking

Monitoring & logging

Python

Communication

Tools

Grafana

Prometheus

Loki

Terraform

Ansible

Helm

Job description

Role overview

Evaluate the performance and reliability of distributed technology projects through large-scale experiments and repeatable testing. You’ll build and tune the infrastructure used for benchmarks, automate test workflows, investigate system behavior, and turn findings into practical recommendations with researchers and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Configure and optimize Kubernetes clusters for large-scale experiments and benchmarks of peer-to-peer systems.
• Improve cluster scalability and resource use as test scenarios become more complex.
• Set up and maintain monitoring, logging, and observability systems, such as Grafana, Prometheus, or Loki.
• Work with researchers and engineers to make experiments easier to run, analyze, and reproduce.
• Automate infrastructure and deployment workflows to improve reliability and reduce manual effort.
• Profile workloads, troubleshoot distributed systems issues, and coordinate investigation with development teams.

Requirements

• Strong experience operating Kubernetes in production or research settings.
• Solid knowledge of cloud infrastructure, Linux, and networking, especially as applied to distributed or peer-to-peer systems.
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging tools.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code or configuration tools such as Terraform, Ansible, or Helm.
• Proficiency in at least one scripting or programming language; Python is particularly relevant.
• Strong written and spoken communication, plus experience with networks or systems programming.

Nice to have

• Interest or experience in distributed systems, peer-to-peer networks, or blockchain technology.
• Familiarity with libp2p, performance benchmarking, scalability testing, or systems research.
• Open-source contributions or experience in an open-source organization.