Staff Backend Engineer — API & Platform Lead (Remote)

Chainguard; New York (NY); Remote; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity/stock options

Unlimited PTO

Remote work options

Home office stipend

Health/dental/vision insurance for you

Job summary

Chainguard is seeking a Staff Software Engineer in the United States to own end-to-end features for the Customer Platform. You will design and evolve Go-based backend systems (REST/gRPC) powering entitlements, policies, and onboarding, while mentoring engineers and aligning with Chainguard teams across containers, libraries, and OS packages.

You will drive technical leadership, diagnose problems, propose solutions, and ship iteratively with real deadlines, including AI-powered product extensions

Qualifications

• Proven experience building backend systems in Go.
• Strong ownership of API design and backend systems at scale.
• Experience with cloud-native environments (Kubernetes) and cloud provider APIs.
• Ability to mentor engineers and guide teams without management titles.

Responsibilities

• Own features end-to-end from design through rollout and iteration.
• Design, build, and evolve backend systems powering entitlement, policy, and onboarding services.
• Serve as technical interface between Customer Platform and other Chainguard teams.
• Extend AI foundations into customer-facing product experiences.
• Contribute to a product-driven roadmap with clear deadlines and outcomes.

Skills

Go backend

REST/gRPC APIs

Kubernetes

Cloud provider APIs

Mentoring

API design

Platform infrastructure

Cross-team collaboration

Job description

Chainguard is seeking a Staff Software Engineer in the United States to own end-to-end features for the Customer Platform. You will design and evolve Go-based backend systems (REST/gRPC) powering entitlements, policies, and onboarding, while mentoring engineers and aligning with Chainguard teams across containers, libraries, and OS packages.

You will drive technical leadership, diagnose problems, propose solutions, and ship iteratively with real deadlines, including AI-powered product extensions