Senior Engineer I, Compute
About the role
Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you’ll find your place here. We value winning together—while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world.
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer I who is passionate about building features that you and your peers will love.
As a Senior Software Engineer I, reporting to Mavis Franco (Manager, Software Engineering) at DigitalOcean, you will join a dynamic team dedicated to revolutionizing cloud computing and AI. In this role, you will lead complex technical initiatives across our distributed control plane, building high-throughput microservices and core infrastructure products. You will tackle deep systems-level challenges using Go, mentor rising engineers, and drive technical execution across our low-latency distributed control plane to power the next generation of cloud compute services.
What You’ll Do:
- Design and implement high-performance distributed control plane services using Go in order to ensure low-latency and fault-tolerant orchestration across core compute infrastructure.
- Lead technical execution for complex project workstreams from design to release in order to deliver predictable business outcomes on targeted timelines.
- Develop scalable microservice interfaces using gRPC and REST in order to streamline communication and maintain reliable service contracts across distributed systems.
- Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through technical guidance and structured code reviews in order to elevate team execution and code quality standards.
- Solve complex distributed systems edge cases and operational bottlenecks in order to optimize platform resilience and maximize system uptime.
- Identify structural process and architectural inefficiencies in order to continuously refine build pipelines, service boundaries, and operational workflows.
- Participate in on-call operational support and system monitoring in order to troubleshoot production incidents rapidly and maintain high platform availability.
What You’ll Add:
- Experience with Go, microservices architecture, and building distributed control plane systems or low-latency infrastructure APIs.
- Experience with containerization, virtualization, or cloud-native infrastructure technologies (e.g., Kubernetes or Firecracker).
- A deep understanding of distributed systems principles, concurrency patterns, and network performance tuning in Linux environments.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex projects, break isolated problems into deliverable features, and mentor engineers to drive team efficiency.
- Growth Mindset focused with a desire to learn, an appetite for feedback, and a "leave it better than you found it" attitude towards system architecture and code maintainability.
Compensation Range:
- $139,200 - $174,000
*This is a remote role
JR: 2026-8130
#LI-Remote
Why You’ll Like Working for DigitalOcean
- We innovate with purpose. You’ll be a part of a cutting-edge technology company with a high-growth trajectory, who are proud to simplify cloud and AI so builders can spend more time creating software that changes the world. As part of our team, you’ll embody our "Shark" mindset: bold, ambitious, and scrappy. You'll lead with a bias for action and take true ownership of our products, customer success, and team culture.
- We prioritize career development. At DigitalOcean, you’ll do the best work of your career. You will join a community of exceptional talent, collaborating closely with some of the brightest and most interesting people in the industry. We are a high-performance and fast-paced organization that will always challenge you to think big. Our talent development team prioritizes your professional development and provides resources to support your growth. We provide employees with reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education, subject to company policy.
- We care about your well-being. We take a comprehensive approach to our total rewards packages because we know different things drive different people. Our benefits are designed to support you and may include flexible time off, local team meetups, and mental health and well being support. Our benefits philosophy is consistent globally, but specific benefits and eligibility vary by location to reflect local needs and regulations.
- We reward our employees. The salary range for this position is based on market data, relevant years of experience, and skills. Eligible employees may also receive equity compensation, which may include a new hire equity grant and, in participating countries, the opportunity to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program. Equity awards are subject to approval and the terms of the applicable plan.
- Non-sales roles: In addition to base salary, this role is eligible to participate in DigitalOcean’s annual bonus plan and may be eligible for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility. Bonus amounts depend on company and individual performance.
- Sales roles (sales compensation eligible): In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible to earn incentive compensation under the applicable sales compensation plan and may be eligible for a new hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
- DigitalOcean is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Application Limit: You may apply to a maximum of 3 positions within any 180-day period. This policy promotes better role-candidate matching and encourages thoughtful applications where your qualifications align most strongly.