7+ years of experience in hypervisor internals or low-level systems programming.
Expert-level knowledge of CPU and memory virtualization techniques.
Experience with specialized AI hardware like GPUs and SmartNICs/DPUs.
Mastery of C and C++, with proficiency in Rust preferred.
Deep understanding of I/O virtualization and hardware-accelerated paths.
Proven track record in leading complex, cross-functional projects.
Responsibilities
Lead R&D and implementation of next-gen hypervisor components optimized for GPU fleets.
Develop advanced hardware pass-through techniques for low-latency multi-tenant environments.
Solve technical challenges like live migration for high-memory AI workloads.
Conduct performance research to minimize bottlenecks across the stack.
Contribute to open-source virtualization projects, enhancing Crusoe's industry presence.
Architect security boundaries for high-performance AI cloud infrastructure.
Benefits
Competitive compensation and equity packages
Paid time off, holidays, and leave of absence programs
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
Employer contributions to HSA accounts
Paid parental leave and life insurance
Professional development and tuition reimbursement
Mental health and wellness support
Commuter benefits and cell phone stipend
401(k) retirement plan with company match
Volunteer time off and global travel insurance
Daily meals allowance and additional location-specific perks
Full Job Description
About the Role:
At Crusoe, we are building the "engine room" of the AI revolution. We are seeking a Staff Cloud Hypervisor R&D Engineer to serve as the lead architect for our next-generation virtualization stack. In this role, you will move beyond standard virtualization to design a "Greenfield" hypervisor environment where GPUs, DPUs, and high-speed interconnects are first-class citizens. You will be responsible for eliminating the "virtualization tax," ensuring our cloud infrastructure delivers bare-metal performance for the world's most demanding AI/ML workloads.
What You'll Be Working On:
Next-Gen Hypervisor Architecture: Lead the R&D and implementation of core hypervisor components (KVM, QEMU, or custom Rust-based solutions) specifically optimized for massive-scale GPU fleets.
AI Hardware Virtualization: Develop and refine advanced hardware pass-through and abstraction techniques (SR-IOV, VFIO, mdev) to ensure NVIDIA GPUs and BlueField DPUs operate with near-zero latency in a multi-tenant environment.
The "Holy Grail" Challenges: Solve high-stakes technical hurdles such as live migration for AI workloads with 80GB+ VRAM and optimizing PCIe peer-to-peer communication between virtualized accelerators.
Performance Research & Profiling: Conduct deep-dive bottleneck analysis across the entire stack-from CPU microarchitecture and MMU virtualization to guest OS scheduling-to minimize jitter and maximize throughput.
Open Source Leadership: Actively contribute to and maintain upstream open-source virtualization projects, positioning Crusoe as a thought leader in the Linux kernel and virtualization communities.
Security & Isolation: Architect robust security boundaries for AI-native cloud infrastructure, balancing high-performance hardware access with strict multi-tenant isolation and hardening.
What You'll Bring to the Team:
7+ Years of Experience: Proven track record in hypervisor internals, kernel development, or low-level systems programming.
Deep Virtualization Expertise: Expert-level knowledge of CPU virtualization (Intel VT-x, AMD-V) and memory virtualization (EPT/NPT, HugePages). You should be comfortable discussing the nuances of VMExit overhead.
Hardware-Software Integration: Experience working with specialized AI hardware, including GPUs, InfiniBand/RoCE NICs, and SmartNICs/DPUs.
Programming & Tooling: Mastery of C and C++ is required; proficiency in Rust for modern systems programming is highly preferred. Experience with QEMU, KVM, and Linux kernel debugging tools (perf, ftrace, eBPF).
I/O Mastery: Deep understanding of VirtIO, vhost-user, and hardware-accelerated I/O paths.
Technical Leadership: Experience leading complex, cross-functional projects that bridge the gap between hardware engineering and cloud control planes
Benefits:
Competitive compensation and equity packages
Restricted Stock Units
Paid time off, paid holidays & leave of absence programs
Comprehensive health, dental & vision insurance
Employer contributions to HSA account
Paid parental leave
Paid life insurance, short-term and long-term disability
Professional development & tuition reimbursement
Mental health & wellness support
Commuter benefits (parking & transit)
Cell phone stipend
401(k) Retirement plan with company match up to 4% of salary
Volunteer time off
Global travel insurance & emergency assistance
Daily meals allowance
Additional perks & programs specific to location
Compensation Range
Compensation will be paid in the range of up to $215,000 -$260,000 + Bonus. Restricted Stock Units are included in all offers. Compensation to be determined by the applicant's knowledge, education, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.
