Senior Engineer I: Fleet Kernel

As a Senior Engineer I at DigitalOcean, you will join a dynamic team dedicated to revolutionizing cloud computing and AI. You will optimize and enhance core system performance, ensuring our products consistently exceed customer expectations. You will be responsible for ensuring performance metrics are both accurate and easily accessible to our users, empowering them with transparent insights into our systems' capabilities and efficiency. This commitment to data transparency and accuracy will be fundamental in building trust and driving informed decision-making across the organization.

• Optimize kernels for performance and resiliency across the DigitalOcean fleet for storage, networking, and virtualization
• Diagnose and resolve issues in the kernel
• Deliver critical kernel fixes and security mitigations with kernel live patches
• Investigate and resolve virtual machine downtime and kernel issues in our production environment
• Perform kdump analysis to identify and address kernel failures
• Implement monitoring and alerting of key metrics to drive resiliency of compute infrastructure
• Improve tooling and automation for testing and deployment of Linux kernels
• Lead initiatives to enhance shared infrastructure, balancing performance optimization with rigorous security standards
• Work cross-functionally to harness new performance capabilities from evolving hardware architectures
• Participate in on-call rotations as needed to support system reliability
• Work with Linux kernel community to push changes upstream

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or Computer/Electrical Engineering or equivalent work experience
• Broad knowledge of the Linux kernel and kernel subsystems
• Demonstrated experience with kernel patching and debugging
• Debugging skills with Linux kernel and kernel drivers
• Proficient in C/C++ programming and one or more scripting languages
• Familiarity with compiler toolchains, build environments
• Experience with Linux virtualization using KVM, QEMU
• General understanding of Linux kernel security mechanisms and common security concepts
• Familiarity with x86_64 and/or ARM architectures
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems at scale
• Excellent cross-team collaboration and communication skills
• Professional-level written and spoken English with strong presentation abilities

• 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 between $137,040.00 - $171,300.00 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. 
• We value diversity and inclusion. We are an equal-opportunity employer, and recognize that diversity of thought and background builds stronger teams and products to serve our customers. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. 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.

*This is a remote role

#LI-Remote