Software Engineer - Compute Infrastructure

About Vercel

Vercel is an innovative infrastructure company focused on enabling agents and people to develop and ship forward-thinking software. As creators of Next.js, v0, and AI SDK, Vercel has significantly influenced modern web development, providing tools that accelerate the journey from concept to secure, high-quality production.

With the emergence of agent-driven software, Vercel is pioneering a platform trusted by industry leaders like OpenAI, PayPal, Ramp, and Supreme, as well as millions of developers worldwide. Whether you contribute to product creation, customer support, community growth, or brand development, you will help shape the future of software.

Role Overview

The Persistence team, part of Vercel's Compute division, maintains critical infrastructure within Hive, the compute platform powering all Vercel workloads including Builds, Sandboxes, and Functions. This team innovates storage and state management, introducing features like Fluid Compute, Persistent Sandboxes, and Custom Images.

As a Software Engineer in this team, you will work on infrastructure that operates hundreds of instances globally, enhancing low-level primitives and contributing to platform features that improve developer experience for thousands daily. This position is London-based, with hybrid requirements for those nearby and fully remote options available across the UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and enhance Vercel's extensive cluster fleet, managing hundreds of globally deployed instances.
• Develop software mainly using Golang, utilize Terraform for infrastructure provisioning, and engage with Nomad as the workload scheduler.
• Innovate and refine foundational infrastructure components involving virtual filesystems, Linux system primitives, and low-level virtualization techniques.
• Ensure the robustness and efficiency of the compute platform, participating in on-call rotations that address issues at a large scale.
• Work collaboratively with multiple teams to unify compute processes across Vercel's platform.

Candidate Profile

• Minimum five years of software engineering experience, with a strong preference for Golang expertise.
• Profound knowledge of virtual machines, filesystems, and Linux internals, with familiarity in diagnostic tools like tcpdump, strace, and iptables.
• Experience designing and maintaining scalable distributed systems emphasizing reliability and performance.
• Proficiency in container and workload orchestration using schedulers such as Nomad or Kubernetes.
• Strong problem-solving capabilities paired with excellent communication skills and enthusiasm for complex challenges.

Additional Advantages

• Background in low-level virtualization or sandbox execution environments.
• Experience with product engineering focused on developer impacts of infrastructure choices.
• Operational experience including on-call duties for large-scale distributed environments.

Benefits and Culture

• Competitive salary package complemented by equity options.
• Inclusive healthcare coverage.
• Professional development opportunities including mentoring and attendance at networking and skill-building events.
• Flexible time-off policies.
• Provision of necessary hardware and a work-from-home budget to optimize your workspace.

Diversity and Inclusion

Vercel fosters an inclusive workplace welcoming applicants regardless of race, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or other legally protected characteristics. Candidates are encouraged to apply even if every qualification is not met.