Systems Engineer, Kernel/Linux

CoreWeave is a specialized cloud provider, delivering a massive scale of GPU compute resources on top of the industry’s fastest and most flexible infrastructure. CoreWeave builds cloud solutions for compute intensive use cases — VFX and rendering, machine learning and AI, batch processing, and Pixel Streaming — that are up to 35 times faster and 80% less expensive than the large, generalized public clouds. Learn more at www.coreweave.com.

CoreWeave is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Systems Engineer to join our Kernel HAVOCK Team. In this role, you will play a crucial part in the design, development, and optimization of our bare-metal systems from POST through joining a Kubernetes cluster. The team’s primary responsibilities include maintaining a custom Linux kernel, various OS images (Ubuntu-based), the virtualization stack (kubevirt/qemu/vfio), and the container/pod runtime stack (containerd/nydus/kubelet). You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, up stack engineering teams, and stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of highly performant and reliable software solutions.

Kernel Hardware - Acceleration - Virtualization - Operating Systems - Containerization - Kubelet

Our Team’s Stack:

• Linux Kernel (custom build, currently tracking Ubuntu HWE)
• Intel/AMD CPUs, Nvidia GPUs, DPUs, Infiniband and Ethernet NICs
• KubeVirt, QEMU, SR-IOV, vfio-pci
• Ubuntu 22.04
• Containerd, Kubelet

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain tooling to build custom Linux kernels and stateless OS images
• Automate packaging of critical components (drivers, microcode, components with out-of-tree patches, etc)
• Serve as a senior point of contact for hardware issue escalation and troubleshooting
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define Linux and OS requirements, specifications, and system architecture
• Analyze and optimize the performance of bare-metal and virtualized systems, identify bottlenecks, and propose improvements for enhanced efficiency

Requirements:

• Must have at least 5 years of professional experience maintaining large fleets of Linux servers
• Deep professional experience with troubleshooting and debugging hardware, OS, and kernel issues
• History of improving system efficiency within different subsystems (network, storage, security)
• Strong familiarity with sysctls, cgroups, iommu, init systems, seccomp/apparmor
• Ability to effectively prioritize and communicate proposed features and fixes
• Strong passion for automation, with a commitment to automating processes comprehensively
• Excellent documentation skills and attention to detail
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with kexec, kpatch, kdump
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines (GitHub or GitLab)
• Opinions about software version control and team collaboration 
• Experience writing software tests

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $160,000/year in our lowest geographic market up to $210,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.