Software Engineer - Time Synchronization

CLOCKWORK SYSTEMS, INC.
Palo Alto, United States
2 days ago
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Role details

Contract type
Permanent contract
Employment type
Full-time (> 32 hours)
Experience level
Expert
Experience required
6 years minimum
Compensation
$150,000.0 - $230,000.0
Working hours
Regular working hours
Job source

Tech stack

Systems Engineering C++ (Programming Language) Computer Programming Software Debugging Linux Distributed Systems Fault Tolerance Global Positioning Systems (GPS) High-Frequency Trading Linux Kernel Real Time Systems

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Engineer to lead development of our Core ClockSync systems. This role focuses on building and scaling low-latency, highly accurate time synchronization infrastructure across distributed environments. You will work at the intersection of distributed systems, networking, and systems engineering to ensure correctness, reliability, and performance of time coordination across clusters and services., * Design and implement core time synchronization algorithms and services

  • Improve accuracy, drift correction, and fault tolerance of distributed clocks
  • Build globally scalable services that operate under tight latency and consistency constraints
  • Develop observability systems for clock health, skew detection, and anomaly analysis
  • Optimize performance at the OS, kernel, and network levels where necessary
  • Collaborate with infrastructure, platform, and product teams
  • Lead technical direction and mentor engineers

Requirements

  • 6+ years of experience in systems or distributed systems engineering
  • Strong proficiency in C++ and Go
  • Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts (consensus, replication, fault tolerance)
  • Experience with time synchronization protocols (NTP, PTP) or related domains
  • Familiarity with Linux systems programming and networking stacks
  • Experience debugging low-level performance and correctness issues
  • Strong problem-solving and design skills, * Experience with kernel development or eBPF
  • Background in real-time systems or high-frequency trading infrastructure
  • Knowledge of hardware clocks, NIC timestamping, or GPS-based timing
  • Experience operating large-scale distributed systems in production

Benefits & conditions

  • Challenging projects.
  • A friendly and inclusive workplace culture.
  • Competitive compensation.
  • A great benefits package.
  • Catered lunch.

Compensation for this position will vary based on the skills and experience you bring, as well as internal equity considerations. For candidates hired at the posted level, the expected base salary range is $150,000 - $230,000. In addition to cash compensation, this role is eligible to participate in the company’s equity program, which may include stock options granted in accordance with the company’s equity plan and subject to approval and applicable vesting schedules.

About the company

Clockwork Systems was founded by Stanford researchers and veteran systems engineers who share a vision for redefining the foundations of distributed computing. As AI workloads grow increasingly complex, traditional infrastructure struggles to meet the demands of performance, reliability, and precise coordination. Clockwork is pioneering a software-driven approach to AI fabrics by delivering cross-stack observability to catch and quickly resolve problems, workload fault tolerance to keep jobs running through failures, and performance acceleration that dynamically routes and paces traffic to avoid congestion.

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