Staff Software Engineer (Guarded Containers)

• Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure
• production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant
• Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.
• Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.
• The role, in a nutshell:
• The successful candidate will be part of our Containers team, whose mission is to develop new features for our customers, build and improve tooling and infrastructure
• maintain product quality standards for our core product – Chainguard Images. As a Staff Engineer, you'll own critical, technically complex areas of our stack, shape long-term technical direction
• drive outcomes that extend beyond your immediate team. You'll collaborate closely with team members, guide technical decisions
• promote a culture of excellence

What You’ll Do

• Collaborate with teammates and cross-functional teams to design innovative services and features that enhance the core product, making it more compelling and valuable.
• Develop robust tools and services to continue to improve our image build system as it scales.
• Own high-impact, deeply technical components of the Chainguard stack, serving as the subject matter expert in those areas
• Participate in long-term planning and roadmap discussions, helping identify the key problems the team needs to solve and ensuring they get solved
• Mentor engineers and raise the bar for engineering quality across the organization

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of experience in software development, data structures, algorithms, compilers, Makefiles, and toolchains
• Expertise with containers, container registries, Docker, Kubernetes and its greater ecosystem
• Experience with Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code, and proficiency in creating modules and organizing resources logically for reuse.
• Experience writing services or tools in Go
• Strong communication skills, proficiency in English, ability to work autonomously, take initiative, and seek help proactively when necessary.
• Nice to haves
• Author and/or contributor to open-source projects.
• Explore Our Work
• Dive into the practical side of what we do at Chainguard. These resources provide a hands-on look at our processes and offer an opportunity for in-depth understanding of our product offerings and the technology behind them.
• Chainguard Academy
• https://www.chainguard.dev
• Base Salary Range
• $205,000 — $231,000 USD
• About Us
• We live and breathe our company values:
• We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
• We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
• We don't take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
• We trust each other and assume good intentions — We're transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.
• A few of the benefits we offer:
• Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
• Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
• 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
• ∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
• 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year.
• If your experience is close but doesn't fulfill all requirements, please apply. We're building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring "Chainguardians" with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
• Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions
• related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity
• other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.
• By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard's Global Candidate Privacy Notice .
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