# Principal Systems Software Engineer
**Company:** [Crusoe](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/crusoe)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA, Sunnyvale, CA
**Salary:** $260K-$340K
**Experience:** 12+ years
**Skills:** Linux Kernel, Kvm, Qemu, Firecracker, InfiniBand, Rdma, Roce V2, Sr-Iov, Kubernetes, Slurm, Nvidia Gpus, Amd Gpus
**Posted:** 2026-02-25
> Leads architecture of next-generation AI infrastructure, unifying BMaaS, IaaS, and CaaS with focus on high-performance I/O paths, kernel optimizations, and GPU workloads. Requires 12+ years hyperscale experience, deep Linux/virtualization expertise, and hardware-software co-design skills.
## Job Description
## What You’ll Be Working On

### Unifying Infrastructure Pillars
- **Bare-Metal-as-a-Service (BMaaS)**: Architect systems that deliver raw GPU throughput via zero-latency InfiniBand/RDMA fabrics for massive-scale training.
- **Intelligent IaaS**: Design highly optimized, thin virtualization layers using KVM or custom micro-VMs to provide enterprise-grade isolation without the "virtualization tax."
- **Elastic CaaS**: Build a high-performance container substrate (utilizing Kubernetes or Slurm) that allows AI workloads to burst and scale across heterogeneous GPU nodes.

### Mastering the I/O Path
- Lead the architectural design of our internal cloud fabric, drawing on experience from top-tier hyperscalers to drive the technical roadmap for SR-IOV, RDMA, and virtualized GPU scheduling.

### Advanced R&D Leadership
- Lead elite workstreams to prototype and productionize novel methods for managing memory, networking, and compute that don't yet exist in standard cloud distributions.

### Technical Strategy & Documentation
- Draft white papers and RFCs that define the next two years of Crusoe’s compute and networking stack.

### High-Level Debugging
- Work alongside Staff and Senior engineers to resolve complex race conditions in the I/O path and optimize kernel-level memory pinning for GPU clusters.

### Industry Influence
- Represent Crusoe in open-source communities and industry forums to influence the global direction of cloud-native AI infrastructure.

## What You’ll Bring to the Team
- Hyperscale Provenance: 12+ years of experience designing and shipping core infrastructure at a major hyperscaler (e.g., OCI, AWS, Azure, GCP) or a specialized HPC cloud.
- Deep Systems Authority: Authoritative knowledge of the **Linux kernel**, virtualization internals (**KVM**, **QEMU**, **Firecracker**), and high-performance networking (**RoCE v2**, **InfiniBand**).
- Hardware-Software Co-Design: Proven ability to design software that maximizes the performance of **NVIDIA/AMD GPUs** and high-speed NICs.
- R&D Leadership: Experience leading cross-functional teams through high-ambiguity projects and delivering production-ready, mission-critical systems.
- Industry Contributions: A portfolio of significant contributions to the field, which may include patents, major open-source contributions, or published research in distributed systems.
- Communication Mastery: The rare ability to explain the nuances of memory-mapped I/O to an engineer and the business value of a new fabric architecture to the Board.

**Mandatory Education**: A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related analytical field (or equivalent professional experience).

**Bonus Points**:
- Patent Holder: Possession of patents related to network virtualization, GPU scheduling, or distributed file systems.
- Open Source Leadership: Maintainer status or significant contributions to the **Linux Kernel**, **Kubernetes**, or specialized HPC projects.
- AI/ML Workload Expertise: Direct experience optimizing infrastructure for Large Language Model (LLM) training and inference at scale.

## Compensation
**Compensation Range**: $260,000 - $340,000 + Significant Equity & Bonus. Compensation is determined by the applicant's depth of expertise, previous impact at scale, and alignment with our architectural goals.
**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/principal-systems-software-engineer-at-crusoe-423c3fe7-aab5-4133-8cee-8ecfa36ad082
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/principal-systems-software-engineer-at-crusoe-423c3fe7-aab5-4133-8cee-8ecfa36ad082