Sr Software Engineer, Platform

NRG Energy; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 153,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Flexible time off

Health benefits

Job summary

NRG Energy is building a new Seattle-based engineering presence to scale real-time platform infrastructure across IoT and cloud services. You will own the design, deployment, and operation of high-scale cloud services and APIs powering millions of devices and users.

Collaboration across mobile, backend, embedded, and data teams will be essential to raise the bar on reliability and performance. You will drive architecture discussions, mentor engineers, and contribute to a culture of ownership and

Qualifications

• 5+ years building and operating production systems (Senior Staff level possible).
• BS in Computer Science or related field preferred.
• Strong experience in Go, Python, or similar backend languages.
• Experience designing distributed systems for scale, availability, and performance.
• Experience building REST and/or gRPC APIs.
• Experience with modern cloud-native tooling (containers, orchestration, CI/CD).
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-scale cloud services and APIs used by mobile apps, cameras, and smart home devices.
• Own systems end-to-end: design, deployment, observability, and production operations.
• Lead architecture discussions for new platform capabilities.
• Build secure, resilient, and low-latency distributed systems.
• Develop event-driven integrations across IoT, backend, and mobile platforms.
• Mentor engineers and raise the overall engineering bar.

Skills

Go

Python

Distributed systems

REST APIs

gRPC

Cloud-native tooling

Ownership mindset

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD

Kafka

MQTT

MongoDB

ffmpeg

Job description

Welcome to the intersection of energy and home services. At NRG, we're driven by our passion to create a smarter, cleaner and more connected future.

Vivint Smart Home, an NRG owned company, is a leading smart home company in the United States, dedicated to redefining the home experience with intelligent products and services. We find purpose in proactively protecting and keeping our customers connected to home, no matter where they are. Join the Smart Home team to create smarter, safer and more sustainable homes.

Who We Are

Vivint Smart Home is redefining the future of home automation and security at massive scale. With millions of connected devices and customers across North America, we operate one of the largest IoT platforms in the industry -- powering real-time experiences that matter in our customers' homes every day.

We're building a new engineering presence in Seattle to accelerate innovation and raise the bar on platform engineering. This team will take on some of the hardest distributed systems and infrastructure challenges in the company.

If you're excited by ownership and the opportunity to build systems that operate at scale in the real world, this is your chance to help shape both the technology and the culture from the ground up.

The Opportunity

We are hiring experienced engineers to help define and build the next generation of Vivint's platform infrastructure.

You will design and operate systems that power real-time smart home experiences-spanning cloud services, event pipelines, APIs, and IoT integrations. Your work will directly impact millions of devices and customers.

This is a high-ownership, high-impact role where you'll:

• Build and scale distributed systems that handle large volumes of real-time events
• Drive architecture and technical direction, not just implementation
• Improve performance, reliability, and operability of core platform services
• Collaborate across mobile, backend, embedded, and data teams to deliver end-to-end experiences
• Help establish engineering practices and technical culture for a growing Seattle team

What You'll Do

• Design and implement high-scale cloud services and APIs used by mobile apps, cameras, and smart home devices
• Own systems end-to-end: design, deployment, observability, and production operations
• Contribute to and lead architecture discussions for new platform capabilities
• Build systems that are secure, resilient, and low-latency in a distributed environment
• Develop event-driven systems and integrations across IoT, backend services, and mobile platforms
• Mentor engineers and raise the overall engineering bar

What We're Looking For:

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience building and operating production systems (we are open to Senior Staff level)
• B.S. in Computer Science or related field preferred
• Strong experience in Go, Python, or similar backend languages
• Experience designing distributed systems with scalability, availability, and performance in mind
• Experience building REST and/or gRPC APIs
• Strong problem-solving skills and a track record of ownership and execution
• Experience working with modern cloud-native tooling (containers, orchestration, CI/CD)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with event-driven architectures (Kafka, messaging systems)
• Experience with IoT systems or device communication protocols (e.g., MQTT)
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud infrastructure
• Experience with NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB)
• Experience with video streaming and technologies (e.g. MP4, HLS, ffmpeg)
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools for engineering workflows

What Makes This Role Different

• Greenfield team in Seattle - help define the culture, technical direction, and hiring bar
• Massive real-world scale - millions of connected devices generating continuous event streams
• Full ownership - from design through production
• Cross-domain complexity - IoT + cloud + mobile + real-time systems
• Innovation-first culture - including programs like quarterly Innovation Week to explore new ideas

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Performance bonus (AIP)
• Comprehensive health benefits, 401(k), and wellness programs
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Flexible time off

Why Join Us

You’ll work on systems that matter-where reliability, latency, and correctness directly affect people’s homes and safety. This is a chance to join at an inflection point, influence the architecture, and help build a high-caliber engineering hub.

The base salary range for this position is: $153,000 - $185,000* *The base salary range above represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of the total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include annual bonus, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition the position may be eligible to participate in the benefits program which include, but are not limited to, medical, vision, dental, 401K, and flexible spending accounts.

NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Protected Veteran Status/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant’s experience or skills.

EEO is the Law Poster(The poster can be found athttp://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf)

Official description on file with Talent.

We support the use of AI tools to help you prepare for your interview (e.g., practicing responses, researching the role, or refining your resume). However, during interviews and assessments, we expect responses to reflect your own thinking, experience, and communication. Use of AI to generate or read answers in real time, complete assessments, or misrepresent your qualifications is not permitted and may impact your candidacy.