Contract Software Engineer (Observability & Telemetry)
Posted 4 days ago by Xpertise
Negotiable
Inside
Hybrid
London, UK
Summary: The Real Time Kernel Observability Engineer role involves working within a specialized engineering team to develop Kernel-level observability and telemetry infrastructure for a global Real Time data platform. The position focuses on building systems that monitor and analyze system behavior in ultra-low latency environments. Candidates are expected to have strong experience with eBPF and related technologies, as well as a solid background in systems programming. This is a long-term contract position based in London, classified as inside IR35 and offering hybrid working arrangements.
Key Responsibilities:
- Build Kernel-level observability and instrumentation systems for distributed Real Time infrastructure
- Develop telemetry pipelines using eBPF-based tooling (metrics, logs, traces at Kernel level)
- Design and implement system-wide visibility across latency-critical services
- Work with hotspot detection, performance profiling, and system behaviour analysis
- Extend low-level instrumentation where required (Linux Kernel tracing, high-efficiency data capture)
- Contribute to observability architecture across high-scale distributed systems
Key Skills:
- eBPF/BPF/bpftrace/BCC
- Kprobes/uprobes/Kernel tracing
- Cilium/Grafana Beyla/XDP
- Linux Kernel instrumentation or performance engineering
- Low-latency or high-performance distributed systems
- Strong systems programming background (C++, Go or Rust preferred)
- Python/Java for higher-level services
- Kubernetes/cloud-native infrastructure
- Observability concepts (metrics, logs, traces, SLI/SLOs)
Salary (Rate): undetermined
City: London
Country: UK
Working Arrangements: hybrid
IR35 Status: inside IR35
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: IT
Detailed Description From Employer:
Real Time Kernel Observability Engineer | Contract | Inside IR35 | Hybrid London
We're working with a global Real Time data platform operating in ultra-low latency, high-throughput environments across distributed systems.
This role sits in a specialist engineering team building Kernel-level observability and telemetry infrastructure used to monitor and understand system behaviour in Real Time.
What you'll be doing
- Build Kernel-level observability and instrumentation systems for distributed Real Time infrastructure
- Develop telemetry pipelines using eBPF-based tooling (metrics, logs, traces at Kernel level)
- Design and implement system-wide visibility across latency-critical services
- Work with hotspot detection, performance profiling, and system behaviour analysis
- Extend low-level instrumentation where required (Linux Kernel tracing, high-efficiency data capture)
- Contribute to observability architecture across high-scale distributed systems
We are looking for engineers with strong experience in:
- eBPF/BPF/bpftrace/BCC
- Kprobes/uprobes/Kernel tracing
- Cilium/Grafana Beyla/XDP
- Linux Kernel instrumentation or performance engineering
- Low-latency or high-performance distributed systems
- Strong systems programming background (C++, Go or Rust preferred)
- Python/Java for higher-level services
- Kubernetes/cloud-native infrastructure
- Observability concepts (metrics, logs, traces, SLI/SLOs)
Contract details
- Hybrid working (London)
- Inside IR35
- Long-term contract
- Global Real Time data platform environment
For more information please apply now or contact job poster for details.