Performance Engineer

<p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>UK | Full-Time</strong><br /></p><h2><strong>The Mission: </strong><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Source.dev"><strong>Source.dev</strong></a></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">Our founders spent over a decade at Google shaping the Android operating systems - building and shipping the software that now runs on billions of devices. They didn't just use Android; they led teams responsible for the <strong>Android Virtualization Framework</strong>, <strong>Security</strong>, and the <strong>Android Runtime (ART)</strong>.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">Through that journey, they saw a quiet but massive crisis: as device software grew in complexity, the tools used to build it remained stuck in the past. Today, a standard Android checkout exceeds 200GB of code, and builds can take hours. This "wait time" is the single biggest tax on innovation.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Source.dev"><strong>Source.dev</strong></a><strong> </strong>was founded to reimagine software development workflows for device makers. We’re building a new generation of software tools that make building complex device software feel as simple as building a webpage - starting with<strong> SourceFS.</strong></p><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><h2><strong>The Core Product: SourceFS</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">SourceFS is a high-performance virtual filesystem designed to turn multi-hour workflows into minutes.</p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>10x Faster Builds:</strong> Intelligent caching and virtualization that only materializes files when they are actually needed.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>10x Lower Costs:</strong> Enabling a standard 16-vCPU machine to outperform even a 128-vCPU machine.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>True Engineering Productivity:</strong> Replaying hundreds of thousands of build steps instantly when inputs match.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><h2><strong>The Cultural Anchor: Own It</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">We operate with a high degree of trust and a shared value of <strong>End-to-End Ownership</strong>:</p><p style="min-height:1.5em"><em>"We own our work end-to-end, from spark to finish. It’s about more than just tasks; it’s the dedication to see things through, staying curious to solve problems, thinking from first principles and ensuring we fix our customer’s problems in the best possible way.”</em></p><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><h2><strong>The Role: Pushing the Speed Limits of Rust, Linux &amp; I/O</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">We are looking for a <strong>Performance / Systems Engineer</strong> to join us at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Source.dev">Source.dev</a>. In this role, your primary metric of success is speed. You will dissect execution paths, eliminate kernel-space context-switching costs, optimize memory layouts, and ensure SourceFS runs as close to the hardware limits as physically possible.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><h3><strong>What You’ll Work On</strong></h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>System Bottleneck Hunting:</strong> Profile, trace, and eliminate latency across CPU, memory, and disk I/O bottlenecks in Rust systems code using tools like perf, eBPF, valgrind, and custom microbenchmarks.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Kernel &amp; File System Tuning:</strong> Deep dive into Linux kernel interactions, optimizing FUSE drivers, VFS caches, asynchronous I/O (io_uring), memory-mapped execution, and thread scheduling.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Memory &amp; Cache Efficiency:</strong> Optimize data structures for cache locality, minimize allocation overhead, and eliminate unnecessary memory copies across boundary transitions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Benchmarking Infrastructure:</strong> Design robust, reproducible benchmarking suites to measure micro- and macro-performance regression in high-concurrency environments.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Scaling Build Primitives:</strong> Squeeze peak performance out of massive build graphs (Android, Yocto, and more) running on high-core hardware configurations.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"></p><h3><strong>Ideal Candidate Profile:</strong></h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>The Performance Systems Mindset:</strong> You have a deep understanding of computer architecture (CPU caches, memory barriers, SIMD, system calls) and proven experience writing hyper-optimized code in Rust or C/C++.(or other).<em> <strong>No prior experience with Rust required, just a willingness to learn is all we are looking for. </strong></em></p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Scale-Obsessed:</strong> You have experience with (or a burning desire to fix) large-scale build systems and developer tooling.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Impact-Driven:</strong> You embody the "Own It" mentality - you see a friction point in the developer journey and you don’t stop until it’s gone.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Curious &amp; Collaborative:</strong> You enjoy translating real-world customer problems into robust, production-grade solutions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Low Ego, High Impact:</strong> Beyond being a brilliant coder, you are a thoughtful and empathetic teammate - someone who leads with kindness</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Feedback Culture Champion: </strong>You embrace feedback and provide it thoughtfully; you see open, honest communication as the foundation of great teamwork.</p></li></ul><div style="min-height:1.2em;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"> </div><h2><strong>A Note on Our Search</strong></h2><p style="min-height:1.5em">We are looking for the best talent, wherever it may be. If you’re on the fence about whether you’re a perfect fit, please do apply - we value diverse backgrounds and unique problem-solving approaches.</p><h2><strong>Why Join </strong><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Source.dev"><strong>Source.dev</strong></a><strong>?</strong></h2><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>AI-Native Infrastructure:</strong> We merge deep systems expertise with AI to solve the "impossible" - using AI to automate complex merges and conflict resolution for the next generation of devices.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Architect the Future: </strong>Have a direct, visible impact on the infrastructure used to build the world’s most advanced hardware.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Early-Stage Ownership</strong>: You’ll have a seat at the table to shape our technical roadmap, product direction, and culture from day one.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Tier-One Partnerships:</strong> Work side-by-side with world-class customers, from global automotive giants to leading cloud providers.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Elite Engineering Culture:</strong> Join a high-trust &amp; passionate team of engineers</p></li></ul><p>Find more <a href="https://www.arbeitnow.co.uk/english-speaking-jobs">English Speaking Jobs in United Kingdom</a> on Arbeitnow</a>