Principal Engineer, Core Infrastructure Boston, MA

Klaviyo Inc.; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 248,000 - 372,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Annual cash bonus

Comprehensive health benefits

Job summary

A leading tech company in Boston is seeking a Principal Engineer to architect and enhance their cloud platforms, focusing on Kubernetes and CI/CD practices. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience developing cloud solutions, emphasizes operational excellence, and has a strong grasp of AI and automation tools. Key responsibilities include defining platform SLOs and mentoring development teams. This role offers a competitive salary range of $248,000 to $372,000 USD.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience building cloud platforms.
• Deep knowledge of Kubernetes and production observability.
• Leadership in operational excellence and design reviews.

Responsibilities

• Architect and evolve the Kubernetes platform.
• Define and drive platform SLOs and reliability.
• Mentor teams and improve developer velocity.

Skills

Expertise in Kubernetes

Cloud platform operations

AI and automation tools

Incident management

Database management

Tools

Terraform

CI/CD tools

Job description

At Klaviyo, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives each Klaviyo (we call ourselves Klaviyos) brings to our workplace each and every day. We believe everyone deserves a fair shot at success and appreciate the experiences each person brings beyond the traditional job requirements. If you’re a close but not exact match with the description, we hope you’ll still consider applying. Want to learn more about life at Klaviyo? Visit careers.klaviyo.com to see how we empower creators to own their destiny.

As a hands‑on principal for compute, networking, storage, runtimes (e.g., Kubernetes), CI/CD, and observability, you’ll architect the service platform that lets teams ship fast and safely. IC role—no direct reports—you lead via design, code, and incident excellence, setting technical standards and SLOs for platform services.

What You’ll Do

• Architect and evolve the Kubernetes platform, service mesh, networking, storage, and CI/CD pipelines; ship golden paths and IaC modules.
• Define platform SLOs; use error budgets to guide reliability vs. velocity trade‑offs; drive incident learning and readiness reviews.
• Improve developer velocity (build/deploy times, flaky tests, local dev ergonomics) with measurable results.
• Lead capacity planning and commitments; build guardrails for cost, security, and compliance with Security/FinOps partners.
• Write high‑impact code, automation, and tooling; mentor across teams and raise the bar on operational excellence
• Embed AI in the developer experience—from code generation to observability and incident response—so teams ship faster and safer by default.

Who You Are

• Experience: 10+ years building and operating cloud platforms (compute, networking, storage, runtimes like Kubernetes), with a track record of multi‑region HA and SLO rigor.
• Technical expertise: Deep in Kubernetes, service mesh, Terraform/IaC, CI/CD, and production observability; you ship golden paths and guardrails that lift the whole org.
• Experience with databases and storage systems, including SQL and NoSQL databases, and object, block, or file storage platforms.
• AI tools & automation: You’ve brought AI into platform engineering—from copilot‑assisted workflows and intelligent test generation to AIOps for incident triage, anomaly detection, and runbook automation—with clear security and cost boundaries.
• Ops leadership: You lead via design reviews, incident excellence, and SLO/error‑budget tradeoffs communicated in business terms.
• AI fluency: You’re hands‑on with AI tools and help teams adopt them responsibly.

Nice to Haves

• AI‑enabled platform: Approved AI tooling is integrated into IDE/CI/CD with repo policies and auditability; ≥70% MAU among eligible engineers; MTTR down 20–30% via AI‑assisted triage; flaky‑test rate decreases through targeted, AI‑suggested fixes.
• Guardrails in place: Cost, security, and compliance controls are codified as IaC modules and enforced in paved roads.
• Experience with enterprise governance, including compliance and audit requirements.
• Familiarity with GDPR and data privacy considerations in large‑scale, production environments.

Success in 6–12 Months

• ≥99.95% SLOs for core services; 25–50% faster build/deploy times; reduced developer‑reported friction; incident recurrence trending down.

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process. For jobs or candidates in NYC, certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound on April 3, 2025.

Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey here

Massachusetts Applicants

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Our salary range reflects the cost of labor across various U.S. geographic markets. The range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all our US locations. The base salary offered for this position is determined by several factors, including the applicant’s job‑related skills, relevant experience, education or training, and work location.

In addition to base salary, our total compensation package may include participation in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, variable compensation (OTE) for sales and customer success roles, equity, sign‑on payments, and a comprehensive range of health, welfare, and wellbeing benefits based on eligibility.

Your recruiter can provide more details about the specific salary/OTE range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Base Pay Range For US Locations:

$248,000 — $372,000 USD

Get to Know Klaviyo

We’re Klaviyo (pronounced clay-vee‑oh). We empower creators to own their destiny by making first‑party data accessible and actionable like never before. We see limitless potential for the technology we’re developing to nurture personalized experiences in ecommerce and beyond. To reach our goals, we need our own crew of remarkable creators—ambitious and collaborative teammates who stay focused on our north star: delighting our customers. If you’re ready to do the best work of your career, where you’ll be welcomed as your whole self from day one and supported with generous benefits, we hope you’ll join us.

AI fluency at Klaviyo includes responsible use of AI (including privacy, security, bias awareness, and human‑in‑the‑loop). We provide accommodations as needed.

Klaviyo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non‑discrimination. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Our company takes the security and privacy of job applicants very seriously. We will never ask for payment, bank details, or personal financial information as part of the application process. All our legitimate job postings can be found on our official career site. Please be cautious of job offers that come from non‑company email addresses (@klaviyo.com), instant messaging platforms, or unsolicited calls.

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