Staff Software Engineer (VMs)

About the Role

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Chainguard VMs team, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of secure Virtual Machines, defining and developing zero-to-low CVEs virtualized Linux operating systems across multiple platforms. Your expertise will be key in creating secure and reliable systems to solve critical customer problems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize Linux operating system features.
• Collaborate in the creation of developer tools.
• Design, implement, optimize, or maintain secure, automated build and test systems in cloud environments.
• Continuously refine testing, debugging, and release processes to improve quality and reliability.
• Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to set technical direction, drive roadmap execution, and establish process excellence.
• Mentor, review, and enable other engineers by sharing systems knowledge, debugging strategies, and tooling insights.
• Partner with internal teams (OS, Delivery, Sustaining) to ensure products and services meet critical SLAs and SLOs.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional experience working on and building Linux operating systems.
• Proven experience working on upstream open-source technologies.
• Proven experience building and packaging Linux software (e.g., APK, RPM, DEB).
• Proven experience with at least one major cloud provider (e.g., GCP, AWS, Azure) and cloud-specific integrations or agents.
• Proven experience working on bootable containers and/or micro VM technologies.
• Experience building, configuring, or tuning the Linux kernel.
• Experience working across kernel and user space and related technologies (e.g., systemd, SELinux, AppArmor).
• Experience with bootloaders and Secure Boot.
• Experience with configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet) or first-boot configuration management agents (e.g., cloud-init, Ignition).
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (Go preferred), with strong scripting and automation skills.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills at package, container, and virtual machine levels.
• Strong communication skills, proficiency in English, ability to work autonomously in a remote-first environment, take initiative, and seek help proactively.
• Passion for quality, security, and attention to detail.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with compliance frameworks (e.g., CIS, STIG).
• Experience with FIPS.
• Experience with Kubernetes and managed container/Kubernetes services (e.g., EKS, ECS, GKE, AKS).
• Experience with VMWare vSphere and ESXi.