Staff Infrastructure Design Engineer

DigitalOcean; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 239,000; Full time

Job summary

DigitalOcean is seeking a Senior Design Infrastructure Engineer to build and scale hardware automation across its data center products and components. Reporting to Infra::Machines::Design, you will guide hardware projects, work with vendors, and shape a roadmap that supports DigitalOcean's rapid growth and fleet expansion.

You will mentor teams on configuration management best practices, troubleshoot complex hardware issues, and collaborate with cross-functional partners to deliver reliable,

Qualifications

• Technical Degree (BS Computer Science/Engineering) or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong understanding of x86 server hardware architecture and subsystems.
• Hands-on experience designing, implementing, and maintaining liquid-cooled server solutions in datacenter environments.
• Demonstrated proficiency in configuration management best-practices (Ansible and Chef).
• Experience automating server components at large-scale using industry-standard tooling (Redfish, IPMI).
• Practical knowledge of PXE boot, UEFI, Linux/OS boot, AMI/OEM BIOS distributions, OpenBMC/AMI/OEM BMC implementations, RAID and other storage resiliency technologies, and the full Network stack.
• Adept at Linux/Unix operating systems.
• Proficient in at least one programming language (Python or Go).
• Ability to participate in 24/7 on-call rotation.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Have an insatiable passion for hardware.

Responsibilities

• Lead hardware design projects with internal stakeholders to meet DigitalOcean's mission.
• Lead projects with vendors on hardware delivery and onboarding.
• Develop and execute a hardware development roadmap to support product requirements.
• Partner with teams to develop tools to orchestrate hardware scaling.
• Lead roadmap initiatives to improve internal services for stakeholders and customers.
• Act as Tier 3 on-call escalation for hardware issues in the DigitalOcean fleet.
• Participate in 24/7 on-call rotation with team members.
• Improve firmware and hardware automation/validation for NIC, Storage, BMC.

Skills

X86 server hardware

Liquid-cooled servers

Configuration management

Redfish/IPMI

Linux/Unix

Python or Go

On-call / triage

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

Ansible

Chef

Git

OpenBMC

Job description

Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you’ll find your place here. We value winning together - while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world.

We want people who are passionate about optimizing and troubleshooting data center hardware at mega-scale so our customers don’t have to worry!

We are looking for a well‑rounded hardware technologist who lives and breathes data center metal. Reporting to the Manager of Infra::Machines::Design, the Senior Design Infrastructure Engineer will build and scale hardware automation across DigitalOcean products and components and join a team of engineers who have already paved the way for the many tens of thousands of servers in our infrastructure. The ideal candidate will be eager to face new challenges as DigitalOcean continues to scale its data center footprint and explore new technologies to bring to our customers.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead projects with internal stakeholders to gather product requirements for hardware designs to meet the DigitalOcean mission
• Lead projects with vendors on specifying, qualifying, onboarding, and delivering new hardware to the DigitalOcean ecosystem
• Work on the development and execution of a hardware development roadmap to support product requirements
• Partner with peer teams to develop tools and processes to orchestrate scaling of the hardware platform
• Lead projects on internal roadmap to improve team-owned services for both internal stakeholders and customers
• Act as Tier 3 escalation on-call for triage, investigation, and resolution of system hardware issues in the DigitalOcean fleet (both customer‑facing and internal)
• Participate in 24/7 on-call rotation with other members of the team
• Improve existing firmware and hardware configuration automation/validation, for both hardware platforms and components (such as NIC, Storage and BMC)
• Engage with hardware vendors about new automation features and existing bugs
• Mentor other DigitalOcean employees on configuration management best practices, troubleshooting intuition, hardware design, and clean documentation

What We’ll Expect From You

• Technical Degree (BS Computer Science/Engineering) or equivalent practical experience
• Strong understanding of x86 server hardware architecture and subsystems. Ideally, you’ve worked with non-x86 hardware too!
• Hands‑on experience designing, implementing, and maintaining liquid‑cooled server solutions in datacenter environments
• Demonstrated professional proficiency in configuration management best‑practices (we use Ansible and Chef)
• Experience automating server components at large‑scale using industry‑standard tooling (Redfish, IPMI, etc) including a deep understanding of benchmarking, automating test frameworks, and process automation in general
• Practical knowledge of PXE boot, UEFI, Linux/OS boot, AMI/OEM BIOS distributions, OpenBMC/AMI/OEM BMC implementations, RAID and other storage resiliency technologies, and the full Network stack- from NIC firmware to TCP/IP
• Adept at Linux (or Unix) operating systems. You’ll be spending a lot of time working in one!
• Comfortable with version control systems (we use Git) and proficient in at least one programming language (such as Python or Go)
• Ability to participate in 24/7 on-call rotation with other members of the team
• Excellent communication skills, both within the team and with the broader company
• Have an insatiable passion for hardware, both new and old

Compensation Range

• $195,000 - $239,000
• This is a hybrid role

JR: 2026-7805

Why You’ll Like Working for DigitalOcean

• We innovate with purpose. You’ll be a part of a cutting‑edge technology company with an upward trajectory, who are proud to simplify cloud and AI so builders can spend more time creating software that changes the world. As a member of the team, you will be a Shark who thinks big, bold, and scrappy, like an owner with a bias for action and a powerful sense of responsibility for customers, products, employees, and decisions.
• We prioritize career development. At DO, you’ll do the best work of your career. You will work with some of the smartest and most interesting people in the industry. We are a high‑performance organization that will always challenge you to think big. Our organizational development team will provide you with resources to ensure you keep growing. We provide employees with reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education. All employees have access to LinkedIn Learning’s 10,000+ courses to support their continued growth and development.
• We care about your well‑being. Regardless of your location, we will provide you with a competitive array of benefits to support you from our Employee Assistance Program to Local Employee Meetups to flexible time off policy, to name a few. While the philosophy around our benefits is the same worldwide, specific benefits may vary based on local regulations and preferences.
• We reward our employees. The salary range for this position is based on market data, relevant years of experience, and skills. You 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 equity grants upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• DigitalOcean is an equal‑opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.

Application Limit:

You may apply to a maximum of 3 positions within any 180‑day period. This policy promotes better role‑candidate matching and encourages thoughtful applications where your qualifications align most strongly.