---
title: 'Infrastructure Engineer at Kernel'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/infrastructure-engineer-kernel-san-francisco-dekqe8rkd7gy'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Infrastructure Engineer at Kernel

- **Company:** Kernel
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2025-12-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/usekernel/a4b11f7d-c748-4af7-9682-77f7ff297a9b

## Job description

## ABOUT KERNEL

Kernel is crazy fast, open source browser infrastructure for AI agents. We handle autoscaling, observability, and the messy details of web interaction, so developers can focus on what their agents do instead of how they do it.

Teams at Cash App, Rye, and 3000+ others use Kernel for deep research, QA automation, and real-time web analysis. We've raised $22M from Accel, YC, and Vercel.

If you're interested in building critical infrastructure for agents on the web, we'd love to chat.

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#about-the-role

## About the role

As an Infrastructure Engineer at Kernel, you’ll architect and build the core systems that power our AI agent platform end-to-end. You’ll own critical infrastructure from conception to production, working with bleeding edge tech that needs to be both reliable and low latency. You’ll also play a foundational role in how we build Kernel’s culture.

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#what-you%E2%80%99ll-do

## What you’ll do

- Design, develop, and scale new product infrastructure, developer tools, and APIs
- Set direction for critical technical surface areas, enabling us to stay ahead of rapid growth
- Shape Kernel’s hiring decisions and culture as we grow

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#what-we%E2%80%99re-looking-for

## What we’re looking for

- Experience scaling and designing distributed systems
- Interest or experience in microVMs / unikernels and developer tools
- >=1 year of experience at a company with <50 people
- Technical excellence: we’re building core infrastructure that’s default open source. As a developer tool, our technical decisions are the product, and the details matter a lot.
- Low ego, high impact: you care more about building something meaningful than who gets credit
- Start-up ready: early stage sometimes means figuring it out as we go, and that energizes rather than drains you
- Excited to crush it: we’re moving fast and looking for people excited about high velocity, high impact work, and having fun along the way.

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#what-you-can-expect-as-a-kernel

## What you can expect as a Kernel

- Industry-competitive salary
- Above market equity
- Premium medical + dental coverage + dependent coverage
- Small, trusting team of senior + staff engineers
- Default async with minimal bureaucracy, only one meeting a week
- $1k / mo budget for LLM usage fees #vibecheck
- Daily lunches on us
- Unlimited PTO
- 401k + company match
- Relocation assistance

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#hiring-process

Hiring process

We have a simple process focused on real world collaboration and jointly getting to know each other:

1. 30-minute intro call with one of Kernel’s co-founders
2. 45-minute technical interview (virtual)
3. Half-day on-site (virtual or in-person) working with our team on relevant challenges.
4. Offer!

https://www.onkernel.com/docs/careers/infra-engineer#how-to-apply

## About Kernel

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Kernel builds crazy fast, open-source infrastructure for AI agents to access and interact with the internet using cloud-hosted browsers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, United States
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: Rafael Garcia (Co-Founder & CEO) and Catherine Jue (Co-Founder & CTO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: AI Infrastructure / Developer Tools / Browser Automation
- Target customers: B2B – engineering teams building web agents, browser automations, and AI applications (trusted by Cash App, Framer, Rye, and 3,000+ teams)
- Mission or purpose: To make cloud infrastructure 100x better by providing well-designed, opinionated tooling that unlocks superpowers for the next generation of AI applications.

## Products & Services
- **Kernel Browser API**: An API to instantly launch sandboxed, cloud-based Chromium browsers in under 30ms (cold start) with sub-150ms cold starts on managed headful browsers. Supports headless, stealth, GPU, and profile modes. Integrates with Playwright, Puppeteer, Browser Use, and Computer Use frameworks.
- **Stealth Mode**: Built-in residential proxies and automatic CAPTCHA solving for web agents.
- **Observability Suite**: Session recording (live view), video replays (MP4), full logs, and screenshots for debugging.
- **Agent Runtime (App Platform)**: A serverless compute service to deploy and invoke agent loops on demand or via scheduled events, co-located with browsers to minimize latency.
- **Auth & Session Management**: Persistent sessions that maintain cookies and auth across invocations; managed authentication for agents.
- **Open-Source SDKs & Tools**: `kernel-images` (Go, 924 stars), `hypeman` (multi-hypervisor VM runtime), `kernel-mcp-server` (MCP server for browser automation), CLI, and Node SDK.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$22M** (Series A led by Accel, backed by Y Combinator S25 batch)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Accel, Y Combinator (S25), Tyler Bosmeny (Primary Partner at YC). Trusted by Cash App, Framer, Rye, and 3,000+ teams.
- **Growth Signals**: Raised $22M in Series A shortly after founding in 2025; Y Combinator batch S25; trusted by major fintech and design platforms; open-source repos gaining traction (kernel-images at 924 stars); team growing from 6 to ~15 employees rapidly.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Performance Moat**: Sub-30ms browser spin-ups and sub-150ms cold starts on managed browsers – significantly faster than competitors.
- **Open-Source Core**: Transparent, community-driven development with 61 public repos, fostering trust and adoption.
- **Full-Stack Observability**: Live view, video replays, and logs built-in from day one – not an afterthought.
- **Stealth & Compliance**: Built-in residential proxies, auto-CAPTCHA solving, SOC 2 compliant, and HIPAA-ready.
- **Founder-Market Fit**: CEO Rafael Garcia was co-founder/CTO of Clever (YC S12, exited for $500M), bringing deep infrastructure and scaling experience. CTO Catherine Jue was co-founder of Sway Finance (YC S16) and led Cash App’s forward-deployed engineering team.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the browser infrastructure platform to support more AI agent frameworks and use cases
- Expanding the open-source ecosystem and developer community
- Building out the agent runtime platform for serverless deployment
- Deepening enterprise partnerships and compliance certifications
- Growing the engineering team to accelerate product development

## Why Work Here
- **Early-stage impact**: Join a well-funded Series A startup (15 employees) backed by top-tier investors – opportunity to shape the product and culture from an early stage
- **Founding team pedigree**: Work alongside founders who have built and exited a $500M company (Clever) and led engineering at Cash App
- **Technical challenges**: Build cutting-edge infrastructure for AI agents – browser virtualization, stealth proxies, serverless compute, and observability at scale
- **Open-source culture**: 61 public repos, active community engagement, and commitment to transparent development
- **Work environment**: In-office culture based in San Francisco (4 locations in the US), with a focus on well-designed tooling and developer experience
- **Perks**: Competitive compensation at a well-funded startup; perks and benefits typical of an early-stage YC company (details available on Built In)
- **Current openings**: Infrastructure Engineer, Product Engineer, Backend Engineer, DevRel Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Customer Engineer – indicating strong growth and diverse team needs

## Sources
1. [Y Combinator – Kernel Profile](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/kernel)
2. [GitHub – Kernel Organization](http://github.com/kernel)
3. [Kernel Documentation](https://www.kernel.sh/docs)
4. [StartupHub.ai – Usekernel Profile](https://www.startuphub.ai/startups/usekernel)
5. [Built In – Kernel Jobs & Careers](https://builtin.com/company/kernel-kernel-sh/jobs)

## Other roles at Kernel

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