Staff Software Engineer

Vcluster; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive Salary

Premium Insurance

Flexible Working Schedule

Workplace Flexibility

Job summary

vCluster Labs is a remote-first startup building AI infrastructure at scale, with a focus on tenant isolation on Kubernetes. This Staff Software Engineer role emphasizes backend work, Go development, and deep interaction with Kubernetes internals to power a platform used by leading engineering teams.

You will own features end-to-end, contribute to open-source, and tackle hard architecture challenges in a fast-growing environment.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in Kubernetes internals and orchestration.
• Proficient in Go; translate Kubernetes knowledge into production code.
• Strong ownership of feature development from design to release.
• Active open-source contributions and startup experience.

Responsibilities

• Dive deep into Kubernetes internals to push container orchestration.
• Develop high-performance Go code powering the core platform.
• Own features from technical design to release.
• Contribute to open-source projects and tenancy models.
• Solve complex systems architecture challenges.

Skills

Kubernetes mastery

Go development

End-to-End ownership

Open source

System architecture

Job description

Join us to Build the Future of AI Infrastructure

We are a VC-backed tech startup in hyper-growth, redefining what's possible at the intersection of AI and cloud-native infrastructure. Our global remote-first culture is built for the best talent, wherever you are.

We're building the infrastructure that powers the world's largest AI Clouds. Filter by department or location to find your place in that work below.

Staff Software Engineer

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Remote

Compensation

As vCluster Labs’ Staff Software Engineer, you aren’t just writing code; you are defining the future of tenant isolation. In this role, you will serve as a core architect of the vCluster Platform, tasked with navigating complex Kubernetes internals to build tools used by the world's leading engineering teams.

As a Staff Software Engineer (Backend), your role will include:

Kubernetes Deep-Dive: Work intimately with Kubernetes internals to push the boundaries of container orchestration.

Go Development: Write high-performance, resilient Go code to power the core logic of the vCluster platform.

End-to-End Ownership: Take full ownership of your work. You are self-driven and capable of managing feature development from technical design to release without needing constant oversight.

Open Source Innovation: Engage with the community and contribute to our open-source projects. You will help define the next generation of tenancy models, creating scalable solutions for isolation and resource sharing beyond simple namespaces.

Technical Problem Solving: Tackle hard engineering challenges where the solution isn't always on ChatGPT, requiring a deep understanding of systems architecture.

This role could be a fit for you if you bring:

Kubernetes Mastery: Deep expertise in Kubernetes internals. We value a profound understanding of how Kubernetes works (architectural patterns, networking, storage).

Technical Proficiency: Strong programming skills in Go. While Kubernetes knowledge is paramount, you must be able to translate that knowledge into clean, efficient Go code.

Builder Mindset: You build things outside of work. You have active GitHub projects, experiments, or open-source contributions that demonstrate your passion for building.

High Agency: You are highly technical and self-driven. You thrive in environments where you are expected to identify problems and solve them autonomously.

Start-Up Grit: Experience working in a high-growth environment. You are comfortable with ambiguity and eager to make an impact.

Community Contributions: A history of contributions to the Kubernetes project (Upstream), including documentation updates, Pull Requests (PRs), or active participation in Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

Startup Experience: You have been at an early-stage organization where you function autonomously and strive towards building something great.

About vCluster Labs

We're the #1 platform for AI infrastructure, trusted by the world's fastest-growing AI cloud builders. We're a venture-backed startup that's raised over $28M from top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures (first investor in OpenAI, GitLab, Stripe, and DoorDash), and we're in a hyper-growth phase looking for motivated people to join our team. Our headquarters are in San Francisco (Salesforce Tower), but our team is distributed around the globe with a remote-first culture.

We give AI Cloud providers and AI factories a hyperscaler-like experience on their own GPU infrastructure. Our platform runs the full stack an operator needs, from bare metal provisioning and node lifecycle management up through managed Kubernetes, Slurm, Ray, and inference clusters, so they can turn raw GPUs into cluster products they can sell in days instead of spending 12+ months building it themselves. Today we power over 100,000 GPUs and 1 million CPUs across 50+ AI clouds and Fortune 500 companies, backed by a team of 40+ infrastructure engineers who build alongside our customers rather than just shipping them software.

We're the company behind vCluster, the open source technology for tenant isolation on Kubernetes, with 11,000+ GitHub stars and 40M+ tenant clusters created since 2021. Open source is part of our DNA. At KubeCon North America 2025, we launched our Infrastructure Tenancy Platform for AI, a Kubernetes-native framework built for running AI, ML, and GPU-intensive workloads anywhere, with an NVIDIA-validated reference architecture for DGX systems.

We offer the following benefits:

• Competitive Salary: We offer a competitive compensation package, including equity.


• Premium Insurance: Health, dental, vision, and life Insurance, including plans for you and eligible dependents (benefits vary depending on country).


• Flexible Working Schedule: You have a doctor’s appointment or need to head to the supermarket to get groceries at 2pm? We won’t have an issue with that. To us, results matter more than clocking in and out at the same time every day.


• Workplace Flexibility: We’re very flexible about where you work. We know things can change in life and we’re happy to adjust the work environment for you along the way.

Culture & Values

At vCluster Labs, we value and stand for:

Make it Happen: We have a relentless bias for action and the grit to push through obstacles. We do whatever it takes to figure it out, put in the work, and ruthlessly prioritize the actions that drive measurable impact for the business.

Own the Outcome: We understand that our responsibility doesn't end when a task is checked off; it ends when the value is delivered. We connect our daily individual actions to the broader success of the company and our customers.

Create Wow: We measure success by the experience we generate, both inside and outside the company. For our customers, this means impressive speed and intuitive experiences. For our team, this means going the extra mile to support one another and to continuously drive each other to new heights.

Open Source, Open Mind: We are actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects. Internally, we foster meritocracy — the strongest ideas win, no matter who or where they come from.

Build Tomorrow’s Standards, Intentionally: We don't just ship software; we define the state-of-the-art of tomorrow. We are fearless in tearing down old approaches to build something better, but we are disciplined in how we do it because we know our users rely on our technology to run mission-critical infrastructure platforms.

Values Driven Culture

Own it. Ship it. Wow them. Our five values aren't a list on our website; they're how decisions get made every day.

As we scale to meet the demands of the world’s largest AI Clouds and enterprises, your career trajectory scales with us.

Impact from Day 1

Your work directly influences our product roadmap and the global cloud-native ecosystem.

We use a data-driven approach to compensation to ensure our team is paid fairly and equitably.

Flexible Working Schedule

You have a doctor’s appointment or need to head to the supermarket to get groceries at 2pm? We won’t have an issue with that. To us, results matter more than clocking in and out at the same time every day.

Platinum-Level Insurance

Health, dental, vision, and life Insurance including plans for you and eligible dependents (benefits vary depending on country).

Workplace Flexibility

Work isn’t a place, it’s what you do. As a fully remote, globally distributed team, we give you the flexibility to work from where you are, without the need to relocate or commute. We’re designed to support great work, wherever it happens.

What to expect in our hiring process

1

Application Review

We review your resume, track record, and prior work examples to assess your skills and experience against the specific requirements of the role. This step ensures we respect your time by only moving forward if there is a strong potential match.

2

Talent Screening

You will have an initial conversation with a Talent Partner. This discussion focuses on your background, your motivations for seeking a new role, and an introduction to vCluster’s culture and mission. It is our chance to get to know you beyond the resume.

3

Department Screening

You will meet with the Hiring Manager for a 45-minute deep dive. This conversation focuses on the specific criteria for the role and gives you a chance to learn more about the team’s goals. This step determines if you move forward to the challenge and panel stages.

4

Our panel consists of a series of 1:1 conversations with future teammates. To ensure fairness and reduce bias, these interviews are structured with standardized questions, where each interviewer focuses on a specific area of expertise related to the role.

5

The Challenge

We believe in seeing your skills in action. Depending on the role, you will complete a work sample, presentation, or technical assessment. This ensures our evaluation is objective and based on practical ability rather than conversation.

6

Executive Interview & Offer

The final step is a conversation with a member of our executive team. Following a successful debrief, our Talent Partner will extend an offer and welcome you to the team!