Senior Staff Cloud Native Software Engineer

nscaleoperationsukltd; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Nscale Operations UK Ltd in New York is seeking a Senior Staff Cloud Native Software Engineer to shape the long‑term coherence of a broad cloud‑native platform. This role blends hands‑on depth with architectural leadership across multiple teams, defining multi‑year roadmaps and standards for the platform.

You will drive high‑leverage technical work, mentor engineers, and create shared patterns to reduce fragmentation while guiding teams through ambiguous, high‑impact decisions affecting

Qualifications

• Experience designing large‑scale Kubernetes‑native platform systems across multiple teams.
• Ability to define and lead architecture across broad platform areas with ambiguity and long horizons.
• Strong track record of creating leverage through standards, roadmaps, shared abstractions, and cross‑team technical leadership.
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, Kubernetes internals, control plane architecture, and production operational design.
• Experience leading major technical initiatives spanning multiple teams with influence without formal authority.
• Strong judgement balancing delivery, platform consistency, and maintainability.
• Ability to identify systemic technical risks and address them through architecture and standards.
• Excellent written and verbal communication to drive adoption of technical direction across engineering areas.
• Strong mentoring track record, helping senior engineers grow into Staff-level leaders.
• Grounding in Linux, networking, and infrastructure fundamentals; knowledge of GPU/AI workloads is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the technical roadmap for a broad platform pillar spanning multiple teams or domains.
• Lead major architectural initiatives affecting multiple subsystems and platform capabilities.
• Ensure architectural decisions across teams contribute to a coherent long-term platform direction.
• Identify weaknesses, duplication, and architectural drift, and drive corrective action.
• Translate strategic product and infrastructure goals into clear technical direction for multiple teams.
• Define pillar-wide standards for controller and operator design, API/CRD design, versioning, and observability.
• Maintain consistency in Kubernetes usage, reconciliation semantics, service boundaries, and failure handling.
• Review designs to prevent divergence and accidental coupling across teams.
• Drive high-leverage technical work that spans teams and improves architectural outcomes.
• Mentor staff and senior engineers, raising the technical bar through architecture reviews and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Kubernetes design

Platform architecture

Distributed systems

Cross-team leadership

Linux fundamentals

Networking basics

Communication skills

AI workload awareness

Tools

Kubernetes

Job description

About the Role (Job Purpose)

The Senior Staff Cloud Native Software Engineer is a pillar-level technical leader responsible for the long-term coherence, roadmap, and architectural quality of a broad area of Nscale's cloud-native platform. This role spans multiple related teams and domains, ensuring that platform capabilities evolve in a consistent, scalable, and strategically useful way.

This role combines hands‑on technical depth with broad architectural leadership. You will define multi‑year direction across a platform pillar, lead major cross‑team initiatives, and establish standards and engineering practices that are adopted widely. You will work through influence rather than formal authority, aligning teams around a common direction while remaining grounded in the realities of implementation and operations.

As a Senior Staff engineer, you are expected to solve ambiguous, high‑leverage problems that cut across systems and teams. You will identify systemic technical risks, reduce fragmentation, and help multiple teams make better decisions by creating clarity, shared patterns, and a stronger architectural foundation.

What You’ll be Doing (Responsibilities)

Pillar Architecture & Roadmap

• Define and evolve the technical roadmap for a broad platform pillar spanning multiple related teams or domains
• Lead major architectural initiatives that affect multiple subsystems, services, or platform capabilities
• Ensure architectural decisions made across teams contribute to a coherent long-term platform direction
• Identify systemic weaknesses, duplication, and architectural drift, and drive corrective action before they become entrenched
• Translate strategic product, infrastructure, and platform goals into clear technical direction for multiple teams

Standards, Patterns & Governance

• Define and maintain pillar-wide standards for:
  • controller and operator design
  • API and CRD design
  • compatibility, versioning, and deprecation
  • observability, rollout, and operational behaviour
• Ensure consistency across teams in Kubernetes usage, reconciliation semantics, service boundaries, and failure handling
• Create shared abstractions, reference implementations, and engineering guardrails that increase consistency without adding unnecessary bureaucracy
• Review designs across the pillar to prevent divergence, local optimisation, and accidental coupling between teams

High‑Leverage Technical Leadership

• Drive ambiguous, high‑impact technical work that does not fit neatly within a single team’s ownership
• Unblock multiple teams by resolving difficult technical trade‑offs and clarifying architectural direction
• Act as a senior technical advisor to engineering leadership for the platform pillar
• Maintain enough hands‑on engagement to validate major design choices, guide implementation, and retain technical credibility
• Improve the effectiveness of teams through strong technical writing, design reviews, and decision‑making frameworks

Mentoring & Capability Building

• Mentor Staff and Senior engineers, helping grow technical leadership capability across the pillar
• Raise the overall technical bar through architecture reviews, coaching, and knowledge sharing
• Help shape how technical leadership operates across multiple teams by modelling strong judgement, influence, and clarity
• Partner with managers and senior leaders to identify capability gaps and strengthen the organisation’s ability to execute complex technical work

About You (Skills / Qualifications)

• Demonstrated experience designing and evolving large‑scale Kubernetes‑native platform systems across multiple teams or domains
• Proven ability to define and lead architecture across a broad platform area with significant ambiguity and long time horizons
• Strong track record of creating leverage through standards, roadmaps, shared abstractions, and cross‑team technical leadership
• Deep expertise in distributed systems, Kubernetes internals, control plane architecture, and production operational design
• Experience leading major technical initiatives that span multiple teams and require sustained influence without formal authority
• Strong judgement in balancing immediate delivery, platform consistency, operational realities, and long‑term maintainability
• Demonstrated ability to identify systemic technical risks and address them through architecture, standards, and technical alignment
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to drive adoption of technical direction across a broader engineering area
• Strong mentoring track record, particularly in helping senior engineers grow into Staff‑level technical leaders
• Strong grounding in Linux, networking, and infrastructure fundamentals, including sufficient depth to reason through complex cross-layer behaviour
• Working knowledge of GPU‑backed platforms or AI workload constraints is highly valuable

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors