Staff Software Engineer, Secure Containers & Images

Chainguard; United States; On-site; USD 205,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible & Remote-First Culture

Equity stock options

100% Covered Health Insurance

Flexible Time Off

Parental Leave

Job summary

Chainguard is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for the Guarded Containers team to shape the Chainguard Images product. You will set technical direction for major capabilities, partner with product and engineering leadership, and ship scalable features.

Beyond hands-on work, you will mentor engineers, raise the technical bar, and influence what and how we build, ensuring alignment with our craft and ownership culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of software development with data structures, algorithms, compilers, Makefiles, and toolchains.
• Strong product mindset translating goals into technical plans and influencing direction.
• Track record leading complex, multi-engineer or cross-team initiatives.
• Deep expertise with containers, container registries, Docker, Kubernetes, and related ecosystem.
• Experience with Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code tools, including modular design at scale.
• Strong Go experience.
• Mentor engineers and elevate technical practices across a team.
• Excellent communication, English proficiency, and autonomous collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Architect and drive development of major new features and services for Chainguard Images.
• Partner with product, design, and engineering leadership to shape roadmap and sc ope initiatives.
• Set technical direction and make high-leverage architectural decisions balancing customer impact and maintainability.
• Lead design and delivery of complex, cross-cutting projects from concept to production.
• Mentor and level up engineers, acting as a technical role model.
• Improve tools and services supporting the image build system as it scales.
• Champion craftsmanship, ownership, and continuous improvement across the team.

Skills

Go

Containers

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Infrastructure as Code

Data structures

Algorithms

Compilers

Makefiles

Toolchains

Mentoring

Communication

English

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Tools

Go

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

Chainguard is hiring a Staff Software Engineer for the Guarded Containers team to shape the Chainguard Images product. You will set technical direction for major capabilities, partner with product and engineering leadership, and ship scalable features.

Beyond hands-on work, you will mentor engineers, raise the technical bar, and influence what and how we build, ensuring alignment with our craft and ownership culture.