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SUSE is a global leader in innovative, reliable and secure enterprise open source solutions, including SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), Rancher and NeuVector. More than 60% of the Fortune 500 rely on SUSE to power their mission-critical workloads, enabling them to innovate everywhere – from the data center to the cloud, to the edge and beyond. SUSE puts the “open” back in open source, collaborating with partners and communities to give customers the agility to tackle innovation challenges today and the freedom to evolve their strategy and solutions tomorrow.

We are open in our roots and open in our approach, striving to be the most trusted open innovator in the World. Openness extends beyond our technology. Our vibrant community thrives on diversity and connectivity without borders.

Job Description

Position Overview

Join SUSE's Rancher Observability team as a Staff Software Engineer to lead the development of our next-generation Kubernetes observability agent. While initially focused on our agent technology, you'll have opportunities to contribute across our observability platform and broader Kubernetes management ecosystem. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic influence, helping shape the future of cloud-native observability at enterprise scale.

Primary Responsibilities

Agent Development

• Lead development and optimization of our Go and eBPF-based observability agent.

• Design and implement high-performance data collection systems for metrics, logs, traces, and topology.

• Optimize agent resource utilization across large-scale Kubernetes deployments (1000+ node clusters).

• Manage upstream merges and maintain compatibility with open-source components.

• Develop and maintain integrations between the agent and other data sources and platforms.

Platform Integration

• Integrate agent capabilities with Rancher's Kubernetes management ecosystem.

• Enhance OpenTelemetry collection and correlation capabilities.

• Implement real-time topology mapping and dependency detection for additional protocols.

• Optimize data collection and transmission for high-throughput scenarios.

• Contribute to architectural decisions for the broader observability platform.

• General development contributions in the Rancher Observability ecosystem.

Technical Leadership

• Drive technical decisions for agent architecture and implementation.

• Mentor team members on observability patterns and best practices.

• Collaborate with product teams to define agent capabilities and roadmap.

• Contribute to open-source communities and industry standards.

Technical Requirements

Essential Skills

• Strong experience with Go or similar systems programming languages.

• Deep understanding of Kubernetes internals and container ecosystems.

• Proven experience with eBPF programming and kernel instrumentation.

• Experience building high-throughput data collection systems.

• Python and Bash scripting for tooling and automation.

Preferred Experience

• Strong background in observability (metrics, logs, traces, topology).

• OpenTelemetry contribution or implementation experience.

• Enterprise container management systems like Rancher or Openshift.

• Familiarity with distributed tracing systems.

• Experience with CI/CD, and infrastructure as code practices.

Technical Environment

• Agent: Go-based, python-integrated, with C++ eBPF probes for deep system insights.

• Data Collection: OpenTelemetry, custom protocols.

• Infrastructure: Kubernetes, containers, Linux.

• Data Pipeline: Kafka, VictoriaMetrics, Elasticsearch, ClickHouse.

• Scale: Enterprise deployments spanning thousands of nodes.

Success Metrics

• Agent performance within specified resource limits (CPU < 3%, Memory < 500MB per node)

• Market leading out of the box support for protocols.

• Agent stability and fault tolerance. (99.999 % uptime).

• Successful upstream merge management (monthly integration cycles).

• Rapid feature delivery aligned with roadmap.

Growth Opportunities

• Shape the architecture of next-generation observability systems.

• Influence SUSE's observability strategy and roadmap.

• Contribute to open-source projects and standards.

• Lead technical initiatives across multiple teams.

Personal Attributes

• Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on scalability.

• Excellent communication abilities for technical and strategic discussions.

• Self-directed with proven ability to lead technical initiatives.

• Customer-focused mindset for feature development.

About the Team

You'll join a distributed team of engineers working on SUSE's observability platform, collaborating with experts in Kubernetes, distributed systems, and cloud-native technologies. We value:

• Open source contribution and community engagement.

• Innovation in system observability.

• Knowledge sharing and continuous learning.

• Work-life balance and remote-first culture.

Impact

Your work will directly influence how thousands of organizations monitor and maintain their Kubernetes environments, contributing to the reliability of critical infrastructure worldwide.

Job

What We Offer

We empower you to be bold, driving your career to create the future you want. We celebrate and reward your achievements.

SUSE is a dynamic environment that is evolving rapidly, thus requiring agility, strong entrepreneurship and an open mind.

This is a compelling opportunity for the right person to join us as we continue to scale and prosper.

If you’re a big thinker, obsessed by execution and thrive in a dynamic environment in which you can tangibly create a lasting legacy, then please apply now!

We give you the freedom to be yourself. You will work in a global community of unique individuals – like you – with different backgrounds, talents, skills and perspectives. A truly open community where everyone is welcome, has a voice and is encouraged to reach their full potential regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other characteristics.

Sounds like the right fit for you? Click Apply to submit your resume. A recruiter will contact you if your skills match our current or any future positions. In the meantime, stay updated on the latest SUSE news and job vacancies by joining our Talent Community.

SUSE Values

• We are passionate about customers

• We are respectful and inclusive

• We are empowered and accountable

• We are trustworthy and act with integrity

• We are collaborative

• We are SUSE!