Senior Software Engineer II Virtualization

Linuxcareers; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 209,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development reimbursement

LinkedIn Learning access

Flexible time off

Employee Stock Purchase Program eligibility

Job summary

Linuxcareers is looking for a Senior Software Engineer II to join their team in Seattle, Washington. The successful candidate will work on the virtualization stack powering DigitalOcean's Droplet product, designing and maintaining software systems at scale.

The position requires strong understanding of Linux systems, deep experience in virtualization technologies like QEMU and KVM, and proficiency in C. Competitive benefits include professional development reimbursement and flexible time off.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of Linux-based operating systems.
• Deep experience with QEMU, KVM, Linux kernel, and libvirt.
• Proficiency in C programming.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and implement IT systems for DigitalOcean's core virtual machine product.
• Maintain and enhance the low-level virtual machine stack.
• Collaborate with open source communities to drive Linux virtualization technologies.
• Backport and deploy software patches for new features and security issues.

Skills

Linux-based operating systems

QEMU

KVM

Linux kernel

libvirt

C programming

Problem solving at scale

Security best practices

Tools

Debian packaging

Go

Python

Ruby

Chef

Kubernetes

Job description

DigitalOcean seeks a Senior Software Engineer II to work on the virtualization stack that powers their Droplet virtual machine product. You will design, develop, and maintain low-level software systems that host every DigitalOcean droplet at extreme scale, collaborating across hardware, kernel, performance, and observability teams.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, test, and implement the IT systems underlying DigitalOcean's core virtual machine (Droplet) product
• Maintain and evolve the low-level virtual machine stack while preparing it to support future software updates and new hardware
• Collaborate with open source Linux, QEMU, and libvirt communities to drive the evolution of Linux virtualization technologies and incorporate them into the DigitalOcean fleet
• Accelerate the virtualization of next-generation GPU-enabled platforms that power AI/ML workloads
• Backport, build, and deploy software patches to support new features, fix bugs, and resolve security issues; contribute to on-call rotation

What You Need

• Strong understanding of Linux-based operating systems with comfortable development and operation experience on Linux
• Deep experience with the internals of QEMU, KVM, Linux kernel, and libvirt
• Strong proficiency in C
• Proven track record of solving problems at scale
• Strong security mindset and proactive approach to identifying and implementing security best practices; excellent cross-team collaboration skills

Nice to Have

• Experience with Debian packaging
• Experience with Go, Python, and/or Ruby
• Experience with Chef, AWX, and/or Kubernetes
• Experience with GPU virtualization and Firecracker microVMs

Salary range $167,000-209,000 plus potential bonus and equity compensation; competitive benefits including professional development reimbursement, LinkedIn Learning access, flexible time off, and Employee Stock Purchase Program eligibility