Software Architect (Orchestration) - Technology Vendor

Hamilton Barnes Associates Limited; California (MO); On-site; USD 225,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical

Dental

401K

Flexible work arrangement

Job summary

Hamilton Barnes Associates Limited, a fast-growing infrastructure software company, seeks a Backend Architect to own the orchestration backend and abstraction model. You will drive scalability, define service boundaries, and translate ambiguous requirements into clear designs for production teams.

Responsibilities include setting API contracts, data models, and event flows across backend services and agent fleets, while mentoring via code reviews and documentation improvements.

Qualifications

• 8+ years building backend systems, including 3+ years leading architecture or technical direction on a significant system
• Hands-on experience designing and operating distributed systems in production
• Turn ambiguous requirements into designs with clear documentation
• Experience with systems that manage infrastructure state: orchestration platforms, configuration management, device management, or similar
• Production experience with Go and Node.js
• REST, gRPC, and protobuf API design
• Databases across MariaDB/MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis
• Message brokers, particularly NATS/JetStream
• Strong Linux, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD foundations

Responsibilities

• Own the backend architecture of the orchestration controller and API contracts
• Define the abstraction model mapping network concepts to vendor fabrics
• Drive scale decisions to support orders-of-magnitude growth
• Translate high-level product requirements into concrete designs and docs
• Lead design and code reviews to raise engineering standards

Skills

Backend architecture

Distributed systems

Go

Node.js

REST

gRPC

protobuf

MariaDB/MySQL

MongoDB

Redis

NATS/JetStream

Linux

Kubernetes

Terraform

CI/CD

Tools

NATS/JetStream

Kubernetes

Terraform

CI/CD

Job description

Join a fast-growing infrastructure software company backed by a top-tier venture firm, posting exceptional year-on-year growth. The organization has built the market-leading network automation platform for AI infrastructure, with more live AI clusters in production than the rest of the industry combined.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Backend Architect to join a growing team at a company with a proven product, real scale, and room to shape its technical direction. The successful candidate will own the architecture of the core orchestration backend and abstraction model, drive key scale decisions, and turn ambiguous requirements into clear designs the wider team can build from.

Responsibilities

• You will be owning the backend architecture of the orchestration controller, defining service boundaries, API contracts, data models, and the event flows that connect backend services and the agent fleet
• You will be owning the abstraction model, defining what network concepts are exposed through the platform and how those map onto fabrics built from different vendors' hardware, so operators work in cloud terms without needing to think about what sits underneath
• You will be driving scale decisions, deciding where the current design holds and where it needs rebuilding to support orders-of-magnitude growth
• You will be translating ambiguous, high-level product requirements into designs that other engineers can build from, and documenting them clearly
• You will be running design and code reviews and raising the engineering bar for the team building alongside you

Skills / Must Have

• 8+ years building backend systems, including 3+ years leading architecture or technical direction on a significant system
• Hands-on experience designing and operating distributed systems in production, not just using them
• A track record of turning ambiguous requirements into designs others can build from, with clear documentation
• Experience with systems that manage infrastructure state: orchestration platforms, configuration management, device management, or similar
• Production experience with Go and Node.js
• REST, gRPC, and protobuf API design
• Databases across MariaDB/MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis
• Message brokers, particularly NATS/JetStream
• Strong Linux, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD foundations

Desirable Skills

• Strong candidates will typically come from companies building infrastructure software, networking software, virtualisation platforms, cloud platforms, storage systems, or enterprise software. Names like Cisco, VMware, Juniper, Arista, Nutanix, Red Hat, HashiCorp, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, or similar. Experience in a high-growth startup is a significant plus.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with equity
• Medical, dental, and 401K
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Full-time, based in Santa Clara headquarters with flexibility

Salary

• Competitive, details available on application (250,000 base)