Senior Software Engineer - Open-Source Authorization Systems

Authzed; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Healthcare (US team)

Insurance plans

Offsite team events

Job summary

AuthZed is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build SpiceDB and the OSS ecosystem, tackling distributed systems, databases, and cloud infrastructure. You will own features across SpiceDB and AuthZed projects, collaborate with a high-performing team, and contribute to open-source initiatives and community discussions.

You will ship robust, scalable software with end-to-end ownership, participate in on-call rotations, and help advance the company’s open-source authorization solutions for

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in programming (Go, Python, Java).
• Strong systems engineering background (distributed systems, operating systems, databases).
• Experience building and debugging complex production systems where correctness, reliability, and performance matter.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and managing distributed databases in cloud-native environments.
• Experience with CI/CD, Docker, and Git.
• Excellent communication skills for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Thrives in remote-first, cross-time-zone teams.
• Experience building Kubernetes controllers or operators.
• Familiarity with database concepts: indices, query planning, optimization, materialized views, etc.
• Familiarity with modern authorization systems and access control models.

Responsibilities

• Build SpiceDB and the AuthZed OSS ecosystem: research, design, implement, test, and release features across SpiceDB and other open-source AuthZed projects.
• Champion of Quality: drive best practices in software development, testing, and CI/CD for robustness and scalability.
• Operate what you build: end-to-end ownership from development to production operations, including on-call rotation.
• Troubleshoot correctness, stability, or performance issues in a distributed system.
• Work in the open: collaborate with users and contributors, review contributions, participate in discussions.
• Continuously identify opportunities to optimize processes and elevate team performance.
• Collaborate with engineers, product, and support teams; mentor others.
• Share progress through technical docs, blogs, and talks to position AuthZed as an industry thought leader.

Skills

Go

Python

Java

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

CI/CD

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Docker

Git

Kubernetes

Job description

AuthZed is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build SpiceDB and the OSS ecosystem, tackling distributed systems, databases, and cloud infrastructure. You will own features across SpiceDB and AuthZed projects, collaborate with a high-performing team, and contribute to open-source initiatives and community discussions.

You will ship robust, scalable software with end-to-end ownership, participate in on-call rotations, and help advance the company’s open-source authorization solutions for