Sr. Software Engineer, Sandboxes & Virtualization
CoreWeave is hiring a Sr. Software Engineer, Sandboxes & Virtualization in Sunnyvale and Bellevue, United States. It pays $153k-$204k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on CoreWeave.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this software engineer role is Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Kubernetes, Linux and virtualization.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 315 other open roles at CoreWeave.
AI in this role
Build and operate secure, high-performance sandboxed container and GPU virtualization runtimes for AI-driven workloads.
What You'll Do:
The Runtime & GPU Systems team builds and operates secure, high-performance environments for multi-tenant Kubernetes platforms at scale. Our team sits at the intersection of container runtimes, lightweight virtualization, GPU infrastructure, and Linux systems engineering. We partner closely with security, platform, and GPU infrastructure teams to deliver robust, isolated, and efficient execution environments for AI-driven workloads.
About the role:
As a GPU & Runtime Systems Engineer, you will design, build, and evolve secure sandboxed runtime environments for Kubernetes workloads, focusing on runtime isolation, performance, and security. You will integrate container runtimes, lightweight VMs, and virtualization technologies to support GPU-accelerated workloads in multi-tenant environments. Day-to-day, you'll develop GPU-aware sandboxing and scheduling strategies, optimize containerization and I/O performance for latency-sensitive workloads, and influence architectural decisions across Linux internals, container runtimes, virtualization layers, and GPU drivers.
Some of what you'll work on:
- Design and implement secure execution environments for containerized and virtualized workloads.
- Build GPU-aware scheduling, isolation, and resource management strategies for multi-tenant workloads.
- Optimize container, VM, and I/O performance across GPU-accelerated workloads.
- Conduct profiling, benchmarking, and performance tuning for runtime, virtualization, and GPU stacks.
- Contribute to architectural decisions across Linux internals, container runtimes, virtualization layers, and GPU drivers.
- Collaborate with security, platform, and infrastructure teams to define and implement runtime isolation and performance standards.
Who You Are:
- 3+ years of experience in systems, platform, infrastructure, or production engineering at scale.
- Strong hands-on experience with Kubernetes, container orchestration, and cloud-native architectures, including controllers, operators, or scheduling extensions.
- Experience designing, implementing, or operating secure execution environments (container runtimes, sandboxed workloads, or virtualized systems).
- Practical experience with lightweight virtualization and sandboxing technologies (e.g., Kata Containers, gVisor, KubeVirt, QEMU).
- Experience supporting GPU-accelerated workloads in multi-tenant environments, including GPU scheduling, isolation, device passthrough, mediated devices, or virtualization.
- Proficient in systems-oriented programming (Go) with strong Linux internals knowledge.
- Skilled at diagnosing and resolving complex performance, reliability, or isolation issues across containers, VMs, and infrastructure.
- Experienced in profiling, benchmarking, and tuning performance across runtime, virtualization, and GPU stacks.
Preferred:
- Experience building systems for safely executing untrusted or sensitive workloads in shared environments.
- Familiarity with GPU drivers and low-level virtualization or I/O optimization techniques.
- Experience defining threat models and implementing runtime security policies in multi-tenant systems.
Wondering if you're a good fit?
We believe in investing in our people, and value candidates who can bring their own diversified experiences to our teams – even if you aren't a 100% skill or experience match.
Why CoreWeave?
At CoreWeave, we work hard, have fun, and move fast! We're in an exciting stage of hyper-growth that you will not want to miss out on. We're not afraid of a little chaos, and we're constantly learning. Our team cares deeply about how we build our product and how we work together, which is represented through our core values:
- Be Curious at Your Core
- Act Like an Owner
- Empower Employees
- Deliver Best-in-Class Client Experiences
- Achieve More Together
We support and encourage an entrepreneurial outlook and independent thinking. We foster an environment that encourages collaboration and enables the development of innovative solutions to complex problems. As we get set for takeoff, the organization's growth opportunities are constantly expanding. You will be surrounded by some of the best talent in the industry, who will want to learn from you, too. Come join us!
The base salary range for this role is $153,000 to $204,000. The starting salary will be determined based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and market location. We strive for both market alignment and internal equity when determining compensation. In addition to base salary, our total rewards package includes a discretionary bonus, equity awards, and a comprehensive benefits program (all based on eligibility).
What We Offer
The range we’ve posted represents the typical compensation range for this role. To determine actual compensation, we review the market rate for each candidate which can include a variety of factors. These include qualifications, experience, interview performance, and location.
In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits to support your needs. The benefits below reflect our US-based offerings for full-time employees; for roles in other locations, benefits vary and are shared during the hiring process. These include:
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance - 100% paid for by CoreWeave
- Company-paid Life Insurance
- Voluntary supplemental life insurance
- Short and long-term disability insurance
- Flexible Spending Account
- Health Savings Account
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Ability to Participate in Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
- Mental Wellness Benefits through Spring Health
- Family-Forming support provided by Carrot
- Paid Parental Leave
- Flexible, full-service childcare support with Kinside
- 401(k) with a generous employer match
- Flexible PTO
- Catered lunch each day in our office and data center locations
- A casual work environment
- A work culture focused on innovative disruption
California Applicants
California Consumer Privacy Act
Equal Opportunity & Accommodations
CoreWeave is an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace. All qualified applicants and candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.
As part of this commitment and consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), CoreWeave will ensure that qualified applicants and candidates with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact: careers@coreweave.com.
Export Control Compliance
This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. CoreWeave may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.
How we rate this
Sr. Software Engineer, Sandboxes & Virtualization at CoreWeave rates 85 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Pay
- This job starts at
- $153k
- Typical software engineer job
- $167k
This posting starts 8% below the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where virtualization was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where container runtimes was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where gpu was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where systems engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
- Walk me through how you've used Kubernetes in your day-to-day work.
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Virtualization, Container Runtimes, GPU, Systems Engineering, and Kubernetes. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.
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