Staff Software Engineer (Customer Platform)

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 secures the software supply chain and Customer Platform is how every customer, partner, and internal product line actually connects to it. This team owns the APIs, entitlements, policies, and platform primitives that enable everything else. It’s the first thing a customer touches and the integration layer every internal team depends on. We’re looking for a Staff Software Engineer who owns hard problems end to end, moves without hand-holding, and can be the technical anchor for a team that touches every corner of the company


• Own features end-to-end: from design through implementation, rollout, and iteration, in close partnership with Product Management and the partner Chainguard teams


• Design, build, and evolve the backend systems (Go, REST/gRPC APIs) that power Chainguard’s entitlement, policy, and customer onboarding services


• Serve as the primary technical interface between Customer Platform and other Chainguard engineering teams (Containers, Libraries, OS packages) by understanding their requirements and building integration paths


• Extend Chainguard’s agentic AI foundation into customer-facing product experiences


• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to senior and mid-level engineers; help the team break down ambiguity and build toward clear outcomes


• Contribute to a product-driven roadmap with real deadlines and clear outcomes, helping the team prioritize tradeoffs and ship iteratively rather than waiting for “perfect.”

Benefits

• Equity/stock options


• Unlimited PTO


• Remote work with flexible coworking and team meetup opportunities


• Home office and internet stipend


• 100% health/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your family

Production Go experienceFamiliarity with cloud-native environments (Kubernetes, cloud provider APIs) is a strong plusDemonstrated ability to mentor engineers and provide technical guidance without needing a management title to do itStrong ownership of API design and backend systems at scale; you’ve shipped and operated them in productionComfort operating in ambiguity: you come with a diagnosis, a recommendation, and a path forward, not just a problem statementExperience with entitlements, billing systems, or platform infrastructure is a plus but not requiredPrior exposure to building or extending AI-powered product features is a plusExperience working across multiple engineering teams to align on technical standards, integration patterns, and shared infrastructure