Software Engineer (Hypervisor Tools/Productivity) in Cambridge

Nutanix builds enterprise software to help companies run their own private cloud or software-defined datacentre. At the heart of Nutanix is the AHV team who develop the Acropolis Hypervisor - proven to be reliable, performant and scalable. Alongside the AHV team we are building a new Tools Team to develop and maintain our internal tools for scalable deployments, test frameworks and observability or performance analysis. This is fundamentally a software development role, but an interest in automation, orchestration and DevOps would be an asset. Some experience of developing testing automation frameworks would be beneficial too.

You will find yourself working on highly complex distributed systems; thousands of VMs running inside hypervisors nested inside a fleet of bare metal hypervisors, with networking complexity to match - if you find this sort of environment an intriguing challenge rather than a nightmare, you could be a good fit for the role. We currently have tools written in Python and Rust, but there will be opportunities to work on other components inside AHV. Experience in these languages, as well as C or Golang, would therefore be a bonus.

About the Team

The team is led by industry experts with 20+ years of experience, who are leading AHV development globally. We have a forward-thinking approach to our work that has retained many of the best elements of start-up mentality whilst also recognising the need for mature delivery and execution. We work with open-source technologies including Linux KVM, QEMU, Open vSwitch and Libvirt.

Your Role

• Design, develop, and maintain the internal tools for AHV
• Enable AHV developers to push towards making AHV even more reliable, performant and secure
• Participate in hypervisor development on occasion, particularly when it involves features which are needed for interaction with the framework
• Help the team develop reliable system tests to prevent regression in existing functionality and discover defects as we develop and deploy new features
• Help improve the build system, other developer productivity tools, and consistently find ways that the team can automate their day-to-day tasks

What You Will Bring

• Bachelor’s, Master’s degree in Computer Science (preferred) or another technical discipline/equivalent experience
• Knowledge of UNIX/Linux
• Excellent coding skills in Python or Rust, ideally from working on enterprise-quality software
• Familiarity with API design, REST and distributed systems would be helpful
• Experience with Pytest or similar test frameworks
• Hands-on knowledge of Git and Docker
• Experience with automation, CI/CD and DevOps tools like Jenkins, Ansible, or GitHub Actions is desirable
• Some industry experience or equivalent research experience would be an advantage
• Familiarity with OS internals and concepts of distributed systems

Work Arrangement

Hybrid: This role operates in a hybrid capacity, blending the benefits of remote work with the advantages of in-person collaboration. In locations where our workplace policy applies (i.e. Cambridge, San Jose, Durham, Mexico City, Bangalore, Pune, Hoofddorp, Belgrade, Barcelona, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo), employees are expected to work onsite a minimum of 3 days per week to foster collaboration, team alignment, and access to in-office resources. Workplace type may vary based on location and team requirements. Please speak with your recruiter for details. Additional team-specific guidance and norms will be provided by your manager.