Software Engineer - Apollo Systems

Palantir Technologies; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 145,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Voluntary life insurance

Paid time off based on needs

10 paid holidays per year

401(k) plan participation

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Palantir Technologies is seeking a Software Engineer for the Apollo team in Seattle, WA. In this role, you will design and maintain distributed systems facilitating mission-critical software deployment. Responsibilities include optimizing container stores and collaborating with stakeholders, requiring systems programming experience in Go or Java, expertise in Kubernetes, and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. The estimated salary range is $145,000 - $200,000, plus benefits such as medical insurance, paid time off, and 401(k) plan participation.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional software development experience focused on core infrastructure.
• 2+ years contributing to system design or architecture of new and existing systems.
• Strong focus on operational excellence and reliability.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain systems for orchestrating software deployment.
• Develop performance-sensitive storage features for Palantir products.
• Solve customer problems with a tight feedback loop.
• Collaborate with other teams to resolve cross-boundary issues.
• Debug complex issues and performance problems.

Skills

Systems programming experience with Go or Java

Familiarity with containers (Docker)

Orchestration (Kubernetes) at scale

Experience with hosted container registries

Designing high-scale observability systems

CI/CD environment experience

Empathy for developer/operator workflows

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Job description

The Role

Apollo is Palantir’s autonomous software management and deployment platform, enabling seamless, continuous delivery of mission‑critical software across a variety of environments, including on‑prem, public cloud, disconnected (air‑gapped) networks, and highly regulated settings (such as IL‑5 and FedRAMP). As a Software Engineer on the Apollo team you will design and operate a large‑scale distributed system that allows the remote operation and maintenance of Kubernetes clusters. Your mission is to extract the entire state of a cluster into a portable, high‑performance artifact within minutes, enabling quick reconstruction of clusters while pushing the limits of speed, reliability, and scale. You will design and implement backup and restore solutions for Kubernetes, build and optimize a container artifact store based on the OCI distribution specification, and own the backbone of every Apollo‑supported environment, from hyperscalers to field‑deployed hardware. You will dive deep into storage formats, low‑level optimizations, and container technologies such as OCI and Docker, while collaborating with technical and non‑technical stakeholders to deliver robust, impactful infrastructure. AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex, and Copilot are highly encouraged.

Core Responsibilities

• Build and maintain highly available systems responsible for orchestration of software deployment across hundreds of production environments.
• Develop performance‑sensitive storage features and optimizations to store and serve Palantir products.
• Engage and solve customer problems with a tight feedback loop to determine what is important and what works.
• Collaborate directly with other teams to solve cross‑boundary problems.
• Debug complex issues and performance problems throughout the stack, including open‑source components.

What We Value

• Systems programming experience with strong proficiency in Go, Java, or equivalent.
• Familiarity with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) at scale.
• Experience with hosted container registries such as Amazon ECR, Google Artifact Registry, or Azure ACR.
• Knowledge of the OCI Distribution Spec and open‑source registry projects (e.g., distribution/distribution, Harbor).
• Experience designing, building, and operating high‑scale observability or infrastructure systems.
• Experience building high‑quality software in a fast‑paced CI/CD environment.
• Empathy for developer and operator workflows and productivity.

What We Require

• 4+ years of professional software development experience on core infrastructure with an emphasis on operational excellence.
• 2+ years of experience contributing to system design or architecture of new and existing systems (architecture, design patterns, reliability, and scaling).
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent.

Salary

The estimated salary range for this position is $145,000 – $200,000 per year. Total compensation may also include Restricted Stock Units, a sign‑on bonus, and other potential future incentives. The estimate excludes the value of any potential sign‑on bonus, the value of any benefits offered, and the potential future value of any long‑term incentives.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Voluntary life insurance.
• Basic life, AD&D, and disability insurance.
• Commuter benefits.
• Relocation assistance.
• Paid time off based on needs rather than accrual, with 2 weeks built into the year.
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year.
• Supportive leave of absence program, including time off for military service and medical events.
• Paid leave for new parents and subsidized backup care for all parents.
• Fertility and family‑building benefits, including adoption, surrogacy, and preservation.
• Stipend for new‑child expenses.
• 401(k) plan participation.

Equal Opportunity & Accessibility

Palantir is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer for all, including but not limited to Veterans and individuals with disabilities. Palantir is committed to making the application and hiring process accessible to everyone and will provide reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during the application or hiring process, please contact us. You will never be asked to submit a payment or share financial information for the interview process. If you suspect a scammer, cease communication and consider reporting them to relevant authorities such as the US FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). For more information on how your personal data is processed, please see Palantir’s Privacy Policy.