Hardware Sustaining Engineer

Reporting to the Manager of Infra::

Machines::

Design, you will support sustaining engineering efforts for the hardware infrastructure of the Digital Ocean server fleet. The ideal candidate will be eager to face new challenges as Digital Ocean continues to scale its data center footprint and infrastructure cloud capacity and explore new technologies and capabilities to bring to our customers, providing top‑tier support for our hardware and firmware in the DO fleet.

• Act as a member of the Sustaining Engineering team in the Infra::
  
  Machines::
  
  Design Organization
• Support server hardware, cabling, and networking hardware throughout its operational lifecycle
• Monitor the #machines channel and MACHINES JIRA project for issues and drive them to resolution
• Participate in 24/7 on‑call rotation with other members of the team
• Act as Tier 2 escalation for Datacenter Operations (DCOPS) and Cloud Operations (Cloud Ops) regarding hardware and firmware components
• Develop and maintain standards and practices for Digital Ocean hardware operations
• Work closely with the Qualification team, Firmware team, Fleet Lifecycle Engineering team (FLE), Foresight team, and Infrastructure Services team to resolve issues in tooling, firmware packages, hardware components, and other operational concerns
• Help with development of tooling and associated runbooks to address gaps in operational capabilities around hardware and firmware operations
• Coordinate with Ops teams on monitoring thresholds, failure modes and alerting
• Assist in troubleshooting cause of failures and work to prevent them in the future
• Raise the quality bar in the delivery of our cloud infrastructure by identifying industry best practices and working to adopt them

• Technical Degree (BS Computer Science/Engineering) or equivalent practical experience
• Hands‑on experience operating a cloud infrastructure at mid‑tier scale or better
• An in‑depth understanding of server hardware, firmware, and infrastructure
• Strong knowledge in troubleshooting techniques, Python and BASH
• Extra points for JTAG debugging, firmware troubleshooting, or wire sniffing experience
• Clear communication and collaboration across key stakeholders
• An insatiable passion for constant improvement

• $83,000 - $104,000
• Hybrid role

JR:

• We care about your well‑being. Regardless of your location, we will provide you with a competitive array of benefits to support you from our Employee Assistance Program to Local Employee Meetups to flexible time off policy, to name a few. While the philosophy around our benefits is the same worldwide, specific benefits may vary based on local regulations and preferences.
• We reward our employees. The salary range for this position is based on market data, relevant years of experience, and skills. You may qualify for a bonus in addition to base salary; bonus amounts are determined based on company and individual performance. We also provide equity compensation to eligible employees, including equity grants upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
• Digital Ocean is an equal‑opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.