Principal Software Engineer, Crusoe Energy Systems
SDN Networking
$270-320k
+ Restricted Stock Units
Renewable-powered AI infrastructure
Job no longer available
Renewable-powered AI infrastructure
501-1000 employees
Job no longer available
$270-320k
+ Restricted Stock Units
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years of related experience building and operating at scale in a production environment
- Proven experience in system programming with C, C++ and/or Rust
- Extensive knowledge of Linux Systems Internals and computer architecture
- Expertise in Network Programming and Packet Processing pipelines
- Hands-on experience with kernel bypass technologies such as XDP/EBPF, AF_XDP, and DPDK
- In-depth understanding of TCP/IP and network accelerators like Mellanox/Nvidia SmartNIC (ConnectX6/7), DPU Bluefield3, and Intel IPU
- Familiarity with SR-IOV, vDPA, and scalable functions
- Strong background in kernel or embedded development, particularly with the Linux kernel
- Experience with Open vSwitch, Openflow, and Open Virtual Networking
- Knowledge of professional software engineering practices and best practices for the full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations
- Demonstrated track record of contributions to the open source community (e.g., Open vSwitch/OVS, Open Virtual Networking/OVN, Multus, Cilium)
Desirable
- Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
- Proven leadership experience in a technical role
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Experience with cloud networking platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and virtualization technologies (VMware, KVM)
What the job involves
- As a Principal Software Engineer - Software Defined Networking, you will lead the development and execution of our Software Defined Networking strategy
- You will work extensively with the Linux Kernel, utilizing technologies such as XDP/EBPF, DPDK, SmartNIC, and DPU/IPU to drive innovation and performance improvements
- Develop and execute the roadmap for the Software Defined Networking strategy at Crusoe Cloud
- Be highly hands-on, guiding the engineering team through architecture decisions, design processes, design reviews, code reviews, and implementation tasks
- Collaborate with the network infrastructure organization to develop industry-leading networking infrastructure
- Lead Linux Kernel and driver development, system architecture design, production support, and cross-functional collaboration
Our take
Crusoe is tackling one of the biggest challenges facing the digital age: the enormous energy demand of data centres and AI infrastructure. As AI models grow more powerful, they require immense computing power (and therefor electricity) to train and operate. This surge in energy use has put some pressure on power grids, driven up costs, and raised environmental concerns. Crusoe is on a mission to make this process more sustainable by finding smarter, cleaner, and more efficient ways to power the data centres that drive modern computing.
The company started out by putting wasted energy to work. Originally known as Crusoe Energy, it captured natural gas that would otherwise be burned off ("flared") at remote oil sites and used it to power modular data centres. Today, Crusoe has evolved into a major player in AI infrastructure, designing and operating large-scale data centres near renewable or stranded energy sources. It's now one of a handful of "neocloud" companies (next-generation cloud providers focused on flexible, efficient computing for AI workloads). And its facilities are helping tech giants like OpenAI handle the massive computing requirements of training advanced AI models.
Recently, Crusoe has attracted some huge investor attention, tripling its valuation to over $10B and raising $1.4B in its latest funding round. It's building OpenAI's first major US data centre campus and even experimenting with bold new frontiers. In partnership with Starcloud, Crusoe plans to deploy the world's first space-based cloud computing infrastructure, powered by solar energy and orbiting the Earth by 2027. If successful, this could redefine how and where computing happens, opening up a cleaner, virtually limitless source of energy for AI's next generation.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
31% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Oct 2025
$1.4bn
SERIES E
Dec 2024
$600m
SERIES D
Total funding: $2.5bn
Company benefits
- Health & wellbeing: Comprehensive health benefits designed to support your overall wellness
- Time away: Paid time off for vacations, family bonding, and unexpected needs
- 401(k) match: Build your financial future with our 401(k) matching program
- Mental wellness: Resources and support for your emotional wellbeing and navigating life's challenges
Company HQ
LoDo, Denver, CO
Leadership
Cully Cavness
(Co-Founder, COO & President)Began their career as an Energy Infrastructure Research Fellow before spending 3 years as a Business Development Manager at Recurrent Engineering and serving as CFO of Sword & Plough. They left their role as VP of Highlands Natural Resources to co-found Crusoe Energy Systems.
Chase Lochmiller
(Co-Founder & CEO)Prior to co-founding Crusoe in 2018, Chase was a General Partner at Polychain Capital, a Quantitative Trade at Jump Trading Group, and a Managing Director of Algorithmic Trading at KCG Holdings.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 68 more jobs at Crusoe Energy Systems