Staff Software Engineer

UpGuard; City of Brisbane; Remote; AUD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Lifestyle subsidy

WFH setup allowance

Learning & Development allowance

Annual leave + extra days

Parental Leave

Remote-friendly environment

Top-spec hardware

Generative AI subsidy

Stock options

Job summary

UpGuard is hiring a Staff Software Engineer to set technical direction across Product Engineering. You’ll stay hands-on in code while partnering with leadership on future platform growth, joining one of our squads to tackle scaling, architecture and test automation from day one.

You’ll work with React/TypeScript on the frontend, Go services with Postgres, and Kubernetes on GCP. Bring your ideas to automate and improve how we write, test, and ship software at scale.

Qualifications

• Typically 8+ years of relevant engineering experience at tech-centric, product-driven companies.
• Strong expertise in TypeScript and React.
• Proficient in a backend language (Go used by the team).
• Solid relational databases skills (Postgres).
• Experience with AI coding tools as part of the workflow.
• Ability to balance technical quality with business needs.
• Demonstrated track record of directing technical direction across multiple teams.
• Experience solving hard scaling/architecture problems end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Stay hands-on and ship features in a squad while guiding architectural direction.
• Lead cross-team technical decisions that span multiple squads.
• Tackle our toughest scaling and data challenges as we grow toward 100B risk signals daily.
• Raise engineering standards through reviews, mentoring, and processes.

Skills

TypeScript

React

Go

PostgreSQL

AI coding tools

Technical leadership

System architecture

Cross-team collaboration

Tools

Kubernetes

Google Cloud Platform

Claude Code

Cursor

Job description

Who are we?

At UpGuard, we are replacing manual security bottlenecks with AI-driven precision. Fresh off a US$75M Series C, we are scaling our infrastructure to process 100 billion risk signals daily. This isn't just growth; it's a total reimagining of how the world manages cyber risk. We build the Cyber Risk Posture Management (CRPM) platform that security teams actually love. By integrating security ratings, threat intel, and agentic AI, we empower organisations to stay ahead of an ever evolving attack surface. We aren't just building another tool; we're defining a category. We provide the autonomy to ship world-class technology and the resources to do it at a global scale.

About the Role

We're hiring a Staff Software Engineer to set technical direction across Product Engineering. The architecture, data and scaling problems that matter most don't sit neatly inside one squad, and that's where you come in. You'll stay hands-on in the code while working with engineering leadership on where the platform goes next, and you'll raise the bar for how we build across the whole org. You'll join one of our 11 (and growing) Product Engineering squads, most of which have a product manager, designer and technical lead alongside the engineers. Our stack is React and TypeScript on the front end, Go services with Postgres as our primary database, running on Kubernetes via Google Cloud Platform. Our engineers work with agentic coding tools, mostly Claude Code and Cursor, and a growing part of the product is LLM-backed. You'll work this way from day one, and we'll want your ideas on what to automate next, from how we write code to how we test, review, ship and run it.

What You'll Do

• Stay hands-on: ship features in a squad, so your technical direction is grounded in the code and the customer
• Set cross-team technical direction and own the architecture decisions that span squads
• Lead our hardest scaling and data problems as we grow toward 100 billion risk signals a day
• Raise the engineering bar org-wide through standards, review, and mentoring senior engineers
• Shape the roadmap with engineering and product leadership: what to build, not only how

What We're Looking For

• Typically 8+ years of relevant engineering experience at tech-centric, product-driven companies
• Strong TypeScript and React
• A backend language you're productive in (we use Go)
• Solid relational database skills (we use Postgres)
• AI coding tools as your default workflow, and the judgment to review and own what they produce
• Pragmatic trade-offs: you weigh technical quality against what the business needs now
• Low ego, high care: you're in it for the product and the customer, not just the code
• A track record of setting technical direction across multiple teams, and bringing people with you rather than just writing the doc
• Evidence of owning a hard scaling or architecture problem end to end, where the outcome mattered to the business
• Comfort influencing without authority, working with product and leadership on what to build, not only how

What will give you an edge?

• Cybersecurity experience
• Running services on Kubernetes, ideally on GCP
• Data engineering, large-scale scanning or crawling, or other high-throughput systems
• Evolving both architecture and team culture as a company scales, from a growing monolith toward services that teams build, run and own
• Building complex applications or systems from the ground up with a cross-functional team

What's in it for you?

• Monthly Lifestyle subsidy: Use this for financial, physical, and mental well-being
• WFH set-up allowance: To ensure you have the right environment to work in, we will help you get set up within your first 3 months at UpGuard
• $1500 USD annual Learning & Development allowance: To support your career development, all team members will be able to expense development opportunities against this allowance
• Annual leave: PTO plus two additional UpGuardian leave days to give you time to recharge your batteries.
• 18 weeks paid Parental Leave: Irrespective of parenting role
• Personal Leave Allowance: This includes sick & carer's leave
• Fully remote working environment: While we have physical offices in Sydney & Hobart, we do not mandate compulsory attendance
• Top-spec hardware: All team members will be provided with top-spec laptops for their role
• Generative AI subsidy: UpGuard provides paid subscriptions for all team members to access generative AI tools to support their work
• Stock Options: Share in UpGuard's growth and long-term success.

UpGuard is a Certified Great Place to Work in the US, Australia, UK and India, establishing its position as a leading global technology employer. 99% of team members agree that UpGuard is a great place to work!

As an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff…

Before starting work with us, you will need to undertake a national police history check and reference checks.