Type of contract: permanent

Envisaged salary: +70K€ gross per year

We are looking for an individual with a passion for Linux and Python whose main responsibility will be to take part in improving our architecture and our services. Specifically, the work revolves around three axes:

• contribute to the development of around 20 of our internal tools, all of which are written in Python (except for one, which is in Bash - life can be cruel sometimes!), and which form the core of our architecture. Here are a few examples:
  • alproxy, our front end HTTP proxy through which we send all the HTTP requests from our clients’ sites
  • alrouter, the demon responsible for monitoring the quality of our transit links and detecting/mitigating DDoS
  • alwall, both an iptable overlayer and a tool for detecting network abuse by our clients
  • alpackage, a tool for the management, creation and automation of Debian packages that we manage
  
  
• edit the configuration and organization of numerous standard tools that function on our servers. For example:
  • Linux, Debian and systemd (❤️), which function on our servers
  • PowerNDS, dnsdist and Unbound, for authoritarian and recursive DNS
  • Dovecot, Exim and rspamd, for email servers
  • nginx and postgreSQL, for our internal web application, including our administration interface
  
  
• participate in deep debugging sessions when a Linux sensei is required. This type of activity generally involves tools such as strace, tcpdump, gdb or perf.

Here are some examples of recent improvements in our architecture, from the most significant to the most trivial:

• HTTP/2 support in our front end HTTP proxy (which consisted of replacing our own implementation of HTTP/1 with an external library)
• replacement of SpamAssassin with rspamd
• addition of the symbolic link “latest”, which points toward our clients’ last backup

Among the scintillating improvements that we look forward to developing:

• addition of an internal CDN, by placing servers with a service provider and the announcement of one of our IP ranges in anycast
• enable horizontal scaling of our clients’ web applications, in an automatic manner in the case of a heavy load
• development of an online tool in the command line allowing for most classic operations to be carried out (addition of a site, a database, etc.)

The following are explicitly excluded from the scope of the role (they are dealt with by other people on our team):

• the development of our web applications, in particular our administration interface
• the installation/configuration of new servers
• the surveillance and monitoring of the servers
• support

You must therefore:

• have vast knowledge of the system, Linux and the network. If you know how to use the abovementioned debugging tools, that would be a plus.
• have extensive experience in development, and be familiar with Python (ideally asyncio).

All of these tasks have been carried out for 15 years by the technical director and cofounder of alwaysdata and their team.

Why alwaysdata?

For around fifteen years, alwaysdata has worked to create a hosting platform that’s designed for the people who use it: a technical community. We are guided solely by our choices, without external influence, in total independence. We have always benefited from the strength that being a small team gives us, preferring to design skillfully together rather than deliver quickly without quality. We take into account the time it takes to develop a product that, above all, works for us.

The entire alwaysdata team has been working remotely (100%) since 2018, so take advantage of that! Choose a good place to set up your office and organize your hours based on your needs. alwaysdata covers the costs of your working environment, so that you can find the way of working that suits you best.

You will be invited to participate in two team seminars per year: we select a location where we spend a week together, playing, designing new tools together, and making the best cheesecake you’ve ever tasted in your life! The members of our team have been working together for many years: we are very committed to maintaining this connection.

Although mainly technical, our team comes from a wide range of backgrounds. We want to keep this diversity, which challenges our ideas and allows us to question our choices. This is why we strongly encourage people from groups that are under-represented in the technical community to respond to this offer: you have a place here.

The ball is in your court!

We want to hear from you! Send us an email at jobs@alwaysdata.com describing who you are and why you would like to work with us. The interviews will take place online (but we can also have a cup of tea or coffee together if you are near one of us).

We are committed to inclusivity for everyone, whoever you are, wherever you live. We believe that diversity is a key to better products, and helps us to provide a quality experience for all of our users.

If you are interested in joining us, please send us an email to jobs@alwaysdata.com, with the position you are looking for in the subject of your message. Feel free to provide us with references to your previous or current projects such as websites, applications, blogs, code repositories, and anything else you consider important for us to discover you.

We are looking for highly motivated, autonomous, and enthusiastic collaborators willing to develop their skills in an environment that is both respectful and exciting. Knowledge, motivation, and experience in remote work (or collaboration on distributed projects) are our key words. We are spread over several cities, so you should be comfortable working remotely with the rest of the team. You can choose to work from any place you feel like.

alwaysdata is a recognized hosting and hosting provider in Europe, managing its own infrastructure since 2006.