Title: Systems Software Engineer
Quick Summary
Kestrel Compute is hiring a Systems Software Engineer to develop and harden the low-level services that power our cloud platform. The role focuses on Linux internals, high-performance networking, and efficient resource management. We welcome applications from early-career engineers with strong computer science fundamentals and a passion for performance, as well as experienced contributors who enjoy owning systems end-to-end.
Project Category or Industry
Cloud infrastructure and distributed computing.
Type
Full-time employment.
Experience Level
Entry to mid-level. Recent graduates with relevant project work or internships are encouraged to apply, and mentoring is built into the onboarding plan. Senior applicants are also welcome and will be considered for expanded scope.
Duration
Permanent.
Location
Remote-first with team collaboration across Europe and Asia. A minimum three-hour daily overlap between 09:00–12:00 UTC is required. Occasional travel for team meetups may be scheduled.
Salary
USD 115,000–165,000 base depending on location and experience, plus performance bonus, equity eligibility, and comprehensive benefits where available. Local currency packages are aligned to regional benchmarks.
Payment Mode
Monthly payroll for employees; compliant employer-of-record arrangements where needed.
Hiring Company Name
Kestrel Compute
Required Skills or Tools
Strong proficiency in C or C++, or Rust; solid understanding of operating system concepts including processes, threads, memory management, filesystems, and networking; familiarity with Linux toolchains and debugging tools such as gdb, perf, eBPF, strace, and valgrind; experience with build systems like CMake or Bazel; competence with Git and modern code review practices; clear written and verbal communication in English.
Project Description
The team builds foundational services that run on our edge and core clusters, including a lightweight runtime, a secure IPC layer, and performance-critical components used by higher-level platform features. The work spans kernel–user space boundaries and requires careful attention to latency, throughput, and reliability. The engineer will contribute to new features, production hardening, and performance tuning while collaborating closely with security, platform, and site reliability teams.
Core Responsibilities and Expected Deliverables
Design, implement, and test systems components in C++ or Rust with an emphasis on correctness and observability. Produce clean, well-documented code accompanied by unit, integration, and soak tests. Profile and optimize hot paths using Linux performance tooling, propose and validate optimizations with reproducible benchmarks, and deliver incremental releases through our CI pipeline. Contribute design documents, RFCs, and post-incident reviews, and participate in an on-call rotation focused on your own services.
Required Experience and Preferred Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience. Coursework or project work in operating systems, computer architecture, and networks is important. Prior exposure to kernel interfaces, epoll or io_uring, lock-free data structures, or zero-copy I/O is a plus. Publications, open-source contributions, or participation in systems competitions are appreciated. Security awareness and familiarity with threat modeling are advantageous.
Tools or Platforms to Be Used
Linux (Ubuntu or Amazon Linux), CMake or Bazel, GitHub, Jenkins-based CI with containerized build agents, Prometheus and Grafana for metrics, OpenTelemetry for tracing, and HashiCorp tools for secrets and provisioning. Exposure to Kubernetes is helpful for deployment and rollout, though the role centers on user-space systems services rather than application development.
Language Requirement
English is required; additional languages are welcome but not necessary.
Communication Style
Asynchronous first through Slack and GitHub, with weekly Zoom standups and recorded design reviews. Incident communication follows documented runbooks and post-incident write-ups.
Time Commitment or Working Window
Forty hours per week with flexibility, ensuring a three-hour overlap with 09:00–12:00 UTC on weekdays for standups, pairing, and reviews.
Payment Terms
Monthly salary via bank transfer; equity and bonus plans follow company policy and individual eligibility.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications are assessed on demonstrated systems fundamentals, clarity of design thinking, and code quality. The process includes a resume and portfolio review, a brief take-home profiling exercise, a pair-programming session focused on concurrency and memory safety, and a structured systems design interview. Final decisions weigh technical performance, communication, and team fit.
Other Requirements
Confidentiality agreement and background verification consistent with local law. For certain components, export control compliance may apply. Participation in an on-call schedule is required after onboarding; compensatory time is provided.
About the Company
Kestrel Compute is a remote-first cloud infrastructure company focused on reliable, high-performance services for modern data-intensive applications. We design and operate systems that make distributed computing simpler, faster, and safer for customers worldwide. Founded by engineers with backgrounds in operating systems and networks, we value thoughtful design, rigorous testing, and a blameless culture of continuous improvement.
Headquartered in Dublin with a distributed team across Europe and Asia, Kestrel Compute serves software businesses, research teams, and digital platforms that rely on low-latency, high-throughput infrastructure. Learn more at https://kestrelcompute.com and reach our talent team at talent@kestrelcompute.com.