Low-level Senior Software Engineer

Company

Hugging Face

Salary / Compensation

• Salary not specified
• Company equity included as part of the compensation package

Overview / Job Description

Hugging Face is seeking a Low-level Senior Software Engineer to join its Xet Storage team, the group responsible for the storage infrastructure powering the Hugging Face platform. The team manages over 200 PB of machine learning and AI assets and develops the underlying storage architecture supporting millions of users, models, datasets, and applications.

The role focuses on designing, building, and operating scalable storage systems while contributing to xet-core, the open-source Rust project powering hf-xet, and the Xet Storage backend. The successful candidate will work in a high-trust, fully remote, asynchronous environment, building high-performance systems that support one of the world’s largest AI development platforms.

Responsibilities

Systems Development & Engineering

• Design, build, and maintain high-performance storage systems.
• Develop and enhance the Xet Storage backend infrastructure.
• Contribute to xet-core, the open-source Rust project powering hf-xet.
• Build scalable, reliable, and fault-tolerant distributed systems.

Software Development

• Write efficient, low-level systems code primarily in Rust.
• Contribute to supporting technologies across Python, TypeScript, Go, and C++ where needed.
• Develop features supporting the Hugging Face Hub and open-source ecosystem.
• Ensure software is robust, maintainable, and optimized for performance.

Infrastructure & Operations

• Operate large-scale production storage infrastructure.
• Design solutions that support hundreds of petabytes of AI and machine learning assets.
• Contribute to monitoring, debugging, system reliability, and operational excellence.
• Build scalable infrastructure supporting millions of developers and researchers.

Collaboration & Innovation

• Work independently while collaborating with infrastructure and engineering teams.
• Contribute to open-source software development.
• Utilize modern AI tools to improve engineering productivity.
• Take ownership of projects from design through deployment and maintenance.

Requirements

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience building and scaling distributed systems, storage infrastructure, or networking systems.
• Proven experience developing and operating production systems software.
• Experience working independently in high-trust, low-process engineering environments.
• Experience working in fully remote and asynchronous teams.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong proficiency in Rust (preferred).
• Experience with Python, TypeScript, Go, or C++.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems architecture.
• Ability to design scalable, high-performance, and fault-tolerant systems.
• Excellent problem-solving and systems engineering skills.
• Ability to work independently with end-to-end ownership.
• Passion for open-source software and infrastructure engineering.

Nice to Have

• Experience designing high-performance storage and data retrieval systems.
• Experience operating production systems, including monitoring, alerting, distributed debugging, and recovery.
• Familiarity with:
  • Git internals
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
  • Kubernetes
  • Relational and NoSQL databases
  • Networking technologies

Candidate Profile

You SHOULD Apply If

• You have extensive experience building distributed systems or storage infrastructure.
• You enjoy writing efficient, low-level systems code.
• You are passionate about Rust and systems programming.
• You enjoy solving complex scalability and performance challenges.
• You thrive in high-trust, low-process, remote engineering environments.
• You enjoy contributing to open-source software.
• You are excited about advancing AI infrastructure used by millions of developers worldwide.

You Should NOT Apply If

• You have limited experience with distributed systems or infrastructure engineering.
• You are uncomfortable working independently with significant ownership.
• You prefer highly structured environments with extensive oversight.
• You are not interested in low-level systems programming or performance optimization.
• You are uncomfortable working in a fully remote, asynchronous team.

Other Information

Position Details

• Full-time remote position.
• Open to candidates located within the EMEA region.
• Member of the Xet Storage team within Hugging Face’s Infrastructure organization.

Technologies & Tools

• Rust
• Python
• TypeScript
• Go
• C++
• Git
• AWS
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Kubernetes
• Relational Databases
• NoSQL Databases
• Distributed Storage Systems
• Networking Technologies

Additional Benefits / Highlights

• Fully remote work environment with flexible working hours.
• Company equity as part of compensation.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Paid parental leave.
• Professional development reimbursement for conferences, training, and education.
• Company-provided workstation equipment when needed.
• Opportunity to visit Hugging Face offices in New York City and Paris.
• Inclusive, diverse, and equal opportunity workplace.
• Opportunity to contribute to one of the world’s largest open-source AI communities.
• Work on infrastructure supporting over 200 PB of AI and machine learning assets used by millions of developers and researchers.