Software Engineer, Compute

About Vercel

Vercel is a pioneering infrastructure company focused on empowering both developers and agents to launch software innovations efficiently. With a decade of experience, it supports builders in rapidly progressing from concepts to production with outstanding security and developer experience. Trusted by leading companies such as OpenAI, PayPal, Ramp, and Supreme, Vercel operates at a global scale, enabling millions of developers worldwide.

Role Overview

The Persistence team, part of Vercel's Compute division, is responsible for the core infrastructure within Hive—the company's compute platform. This team specializes in storage and state management across workloads including Builds, Sandboxes, and Functions, pushing forward cutting-edge features like Fluid Compute, Persistent Sandboxes, and Custom Images.

As a Software Engineer on this team, you will maintain and enhance infrastructure running hundreds of instances globally, innovating on low-level building blocks and improving the platform experience for thousands daily. The role is based in London, UK, with hybrid working arrangements involving in-office anchor days for those near the office, and full remote options within the UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and optimize the cluster fleet that runs hundreds of instances across all deployment regions.
• Develop using Go on a daily basis, leveraging Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and utilizing Nomad as the workload scheduler.
• Innovate and rethink infrastructure fundamentals including virtual file systems, Linux primitives, and low-level virtualization techniques.
• Ensure the reliability and performance of Vercel’s compute platform, participating in on-call duties to address issues with significant impact at scale.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to integrate compute capabilities across the organization.

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum five years of professional software engineering experience, with strong proficiency in Golang preferred.
• In-depth understanding of virtual machines, file systems, and Linux internals; familiar with tools like tcpdump, strace, and iptables.
• Proven experience designing and operating distributed systems at scale focused on both performance and reliability.
• Familiarity with workload schedulers and container orchestration platforms such as Nomad and Kubernetes.
• Exceptional analytical and communication skills, with keen interest in tackling complex problems without obvious solutions.

Additional Advantages

• Experience in low-level virtualization or sandbox execution environments.
• Background in product engineering with sensitivity to developer experience implications of infrastructure decisions.
• History of managing on-call responsibilities for large-scale distributed systems.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity-based compensation package.
• Inclusive healthcare coverage for employees.
• Opportunities for mentorship and participation in events to foster growth and skill enhancement.
• Flexible vacation and time off policies.
• Provision of necessary work equipment and a budget to support home office setups.

Company Commitments

• Strict adherence to privacy policies relating to applicant data.
• Strong commitment to equal opportunity employment, promoting diversity and inclusion and encouraging applicants from all backgrounds regardless of any characteristic protected by law.