Staff Software Engineer (Backend)

Kargo; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Kargo is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to own technical direction across backend services and shared platform capabilities. This hybrid role requires onsite presence four days per week as the team scales to meet growing demand in the ad technology space.

The ideal candidate has deep Go experience and strong systems design fundamentals, with production exposure to Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS. Excellent communication and leadership skills are essential for driving cross-team initiatives and

Qualifications

• Proven experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Strong fundamentals in APIs, service architecture, concurrency, data modeling, fault tolerance, and performance.
• Hands-on production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS.
• Operational instincts: monitoring, incident response, and systemic follow-through.
• Ability to lead cross-team technical initiatives from problem definition to production rollout.

Responsibilities

• Own technical direction across backend services and shared platform capabilities.
• Translate ambiguous business needs into durable architecture and reliable execution.
• Lead cross-team initiatives from discovery through production rollout with observability and documented tradeoffs.
• Improve platform health through refactors or infrastructure investments.
• Elevate engineering effectiveness through tooling, testing, and documentation.

Skills

Go

Systems design

Cross-team leadership

Communication

Observability

Incident response

Production engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Job description

Who We Are

Kargo creates powerful moments of connection between brands and consumers to build businesses. Every day, our 600+ employees work to radically raise the bar on what agentic AI, CTV, eCommerce, social, and mobile can do to deliver unique ad experiences across the world’s most premium platforms. Taking a creative science approach to all we do, we continuously innovate solutions that outperform industry benchmarks and client expectations. Now 20+ years strong, Kargo has offices in NYC, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Sydney, Auckland, London and Waterford, Ireland.

Who We Hire

Techies who want to build the future. Creatives who want to design it better. Communicators to win business. Collaborators to build it. Data pros who turn numbers into insights. Product builders who turn ideas into innovations. Anyone eager to be on a team that doesn’t stop to ask what’s next, because they’re already building it.

Mission

Kargo's systems move fast and operate at scale — this role exists to make sure they hold up under both. The Staff Software Engineer owns technical direction across backend services and shared platform capabilities, translating ambiguous business needs into durable architecture and reliable execution. Without this role, complexity compounds silently and engineering teams lose the leverage they need to ship with confidence.

This is a hybrid role requiring onsite presence 4 days per week.

Outcomes — What Success Looks Like in 6–12 Months

• Architecture is driving alignment, not slowing it down. Service boundaries, interfaces, and design patterns are clearly defined across multiple systems, and teams reference shared standards rather than solving the same problems independently.
• Major initiatives ship with operational integrity. At least one cross-team technical initiative moves from discovery through production rollout with strong observability, documented tradeoffs, and a clean post-launch record.
• Platform health is measurably improved. Structural weaknesses are identified and addressed — whether through targeted refactors, new reference implementations, or infrastructure investments — and the impact is visible in reliability or performance metrics.
• Engineering effectiveness goes up across teams. Tooling improvements, testing strategy, and documentation contributions reduce friction in the development cycle, and other engineers can point to concrete ways this role made their work easier.
• Senior engineers are growing into broader ownership. At least two engineers have expanded their scope or technical influence, with this role serving as a deliberate catalyst for that growth.

Skills — Core Technical Capabilities

Required

• Deep proficiency in Go (or comparable systems/compiled language) with production experience building and operating large-scale distributed systems
• Strong systems design fundamentals: APIs, service architecture, concurrency, data modeling, fault tolerance, and performance
• Hands‑on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS in production environments
• Operational instincts across monitoring, debugging, incident response, and systemic follow‑through
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-team technical initiatives from problem definition through production rollout
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders

Preferred

• Familiarity with RTB, SSP, or auction systems — or other performance-sensitive distributed platforms where latency, throughput, and cost must be actively balanced
• Experience building shared internal platforms or frameworks adopted across multiple engineering teams

Competencies — Behaviors We Like to See

Translates Ambiguity Into Direction

• Takes loosely defined product or business problems and produces clear, actionable technical plans without waiting for full clarity
• Knows when to move fast, when to invest, and when to hold — and can articulate the reasoning to engineers and stakeholders alike

Raises the Bar Without Holding Court

• Leads design reviews and technical discussions that bring teams to strong decisions without relying on formal authority or slowing down momentum
• Establishes reusable patterns and reference implementations that other engineers actually adopt because they’re genuinely useful

Operates With Production Discipline

• Treats observability, incident management, and post‑launch iteration as first-class parts of the engineering process, not afterthoughts
• Identifies systemic risk early and makes sound calls on whether to patch, refactor, or redesign

Grows the People Around Them

• Actively invests in the development of senior engineers, helping them take on broader technical ownership and influence
• Stays close enough to the code to lead by example and make high‑leverage contributions when it counts

In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency laws, the anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as geographic location, work experience, education, and skills.

U.S Salary Range: $180,000 — $230,000 USD

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Kargo is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace where all employees and applicants are treated with respect and dignity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or family status, national origin, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state, or federal law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

Pursuant to applicable fair chance laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Kargo will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.