Senior Architect - Compute Virtualization

Akamai; United States; On-site; USD 169,000 - 305,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

401K plan

Equity awards

ESPP

Parental leave

Job summary

Akamai's Cloud Technology Group is seeking a Senior Architect to lead the architecture and design of our Compute Platform. You will work hands-on within engineering teams to build and operate next-generation IaaS and Kubernetes-based services.

Required are 12+ years of experience and deep expertise in OS, virtualization, containers, and cloud-native technologies. Strong collaboration with product teams and mentoring responsibilities are part of the role.

Qualifications

• 12 years of relevant experience.
• Extensive experience building and operating highly available, fault‑tolerant, large‑scale distributed production services using Virtualization and Cloud‑Native technologies.
• Advanced knowledge of operating systems, Linux internals, virtualization technologies, hypervisors, performance optimization.
• Experience and understanding of containers and related technologies (systemd, Docker, Containerd, Kubernetes).
• Proficiency with Linux, Go, Python, Bash.
• Understanding of SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and public cloud offerings.

Responsibilities

• Own the system design and implementation, guiding engineering while aligning with the big picture.
• Build PoCs to inform design choices and technology selection.
• Collaborate with product managers and product architects to shape product direction.
• Contribute to and help shape the engineering roadmap with stakeholders.
• Develop best practices, share knowledge, and mentor engineers.
• Collaborate with Agile teams to enable innovative solutions and rapid development cycles.

Skills

Operating systems

Hypervisors

Virtual Machines

Containers

Go

Python

Bash

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

qemu

kvm

Cilium

docker

containerd

Kubernetes

Job description

Are you a Linux, kernel, and hypervisor expert looking to jump into architecture while remaining hands‑on?

Are you passionate about the system architecture and design of our Compute Platform, building the foundation for our Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Kubernetes-based products and services?

Come join Akamai Cloud!

Akamai's Cloud Technology Group (CTG) takes ownership for designing, building, maintaining and operating our public cloud computing platform. We develop applications and services to empower our customers. Our mission is to accelerate innovation by making cloud computing simple, scalable, affordable, and accessible to all. We design, develop, test, and maintain products that run our IaaS platform.

Shape the future of Akamai's Cloud Infrastructure

We are looking for a Senior Architect with expertise in Operating Systems, Hypervisors, Virtual Machines, and Containers, along with Cloud‑Native tendencies, to lead the architecture and design of next‑generation infrastructure services. In this role, you will be working embedded as part of engineering development teams, engaging as a core member of the Compute system architecture team.

As a Senior Architect, you will be responsible for:

• Owning the system design and implementation, helping to guide engineering while ensuring alignment with the big picture
• Building proof of concepts to help make design choices and recommend technologies
• Working with product managers and product architects to help inform the product direction
• Contributing to and helping to shape the engineering roadmap by working with product and engineering management and other business stakeholders
• Developing best practices, sharing knowledge, and mentoring
• Collaborating with engineering teams in an Agile environment that fosters innovative solutions, rapid development cycles, and open communication

Do what you love

To be successful in this role you will:

• Have 12 years of relevant experience and a Bachelor's degree or its equivalent
• Demonstrate extensive experience building and operating highly available, fault‑tolerant, and large‑scale distributed production services using Virtualization and Cloud‑Native technologies (e.g. qemu, kvm, Cilium, etc.)
• Have advanced knowledge of operating systems, linux internals, virtualization technologies, hypervisors, performance optimization
• Have experience and solid understanding of containers and the technologies that revolve around them (e.g., systemd, docker, containerd, Kubernetes, etc.)
• Demonstrate significant experience with Linux, Go, Python, Bash
• Have a good understanding of SaaS, PaaS, IaaS with experience in one or more public cloud offerings

About us

At Akamai, we make life better for billions of people, trillions of times a day.
Whether you're streaming live events, scrolling social media, watching your favorite series, or managing your savings, we're the engine behind the scenes. We provide the world's most distributed platform from Cloud to Edge to help the giants of the digital world work faster and stay more secure, making the internet a better experience for everyone.
Our focus is simple:
Cloud and Edge: Running apps closer to users for instant performance.
Security: Neutralizing threats before they ever reach your data.
Content Delivery: Scaling the world's biggest moments without a glitch.
AI: Enabling our customers to build, secure, and scale AI apps on the world's most distributed cloud platform.
At Akamai, we don't just support the internet; we power and protect it, because behind every great digital experience is a massive hidden challenge. And we're the ones that solve it. When millions of people hit play or pay, Akamai ensures it just works.

Benefits at Akamai:

We support your health, well‑being, finances, and life beyond work. See our benefits.

FlexBase adapts to your job's needs

Akamai's FlexBase program is yet another way we show our commitment to providing employees with an exceptional workplace experience. It's not about telling employees where to work; it's about supporting employees to do their best work.
We trust our incredible employees to work in ways that suit them best: at home, in an office, or a combination of both.

Connect with us on social and see what life at Akamai is like!

Compensation

Akamai is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. For US based candidates only - the base salary for this position ranges from $169,300 - $304,700/year; a candidate’s salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. Compensation for candidates outside the US will vary. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of annual bonus or incentives, equity awards and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). Akamai provides industry‑leading benefits including healthcare, 401K savings plan, company holidays, vacation (in the form of PTO), sick time, family friendly benefits including parental leave and an employee assistance program including a focus on mental and financial wellness; Eligibility requirements apply.