About the Role (Job Purpose)
The Staff Cloud Native Software Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for the architecture, coherence, and evolution of a defined domain within Nscale’s cloud-native platform. This role operates beyond the boundaries of a single team, shaping how multiple teams build and evolve Kubernetes-native control plane software across a platform area.
This role combines deep hands-on engineering with technical leadership. You will define domain direction, make key architectural decisions, and create leverage through shared patterns, standards, and technical guidance. You will remain close enough to implementation to validate designs, unblock delivery, and ensure that technical direction is grounded in operational reality.
As a Staff engineer, you are expected to increase the effectiveness of multiple engineers and teams. You will take ownership of ambiguous technical problems within your domain, drive alignment across team boundaries, and help ensure that the systems built by different teams remain coherent, operable, and maintainable as the platform grows.
What You’ll be Doing (Responsibilities)
Domain Architecture & Technical Direction
Own and evolve the technical direction for a defined cloud-native platform domain, such as control plane orchestration, infrastructure lifecycle, platform APIs, or workload management
Design and review Kubernetes-native systems that span multiple components or teams within that domain
Make architectural decisions that balance delivery needs, operational realities, and long-term maintainability
Resolve ambiguity in architecture, interfaces, and system boundaries for cross-team work
Act as a technical escalation point for the most complex issues within the domain
Cross-Team Engineering Leverage
Drive cross-team design for APIs, controllers, workflows, and operational behaviour within the domain
Establish shared patterns and standards for:
controller and reconciliation design
API and CRD modelling
rollout safety and compatibility
observability and operational behaviour
Identify and correct technical divergence, overlapping abstractions, and avoidable coupling between systems
Create leverage through reference implementations, shared libraries, and common tooling where appropriate
Delivery & Execution
Lead technically critical initiatives that span 2–4 teams or a defined platform area
Unblock delivery by clarifying direction, reducing technical ambiguity, and resolving hard design problems
Contribute hands-on where necessary to validate patterns, de-risk complex implementation work, or accelerate critical delivery
Ensure systems in the domain are designed to be observable, supportable, and safe to run in production
Mentoring & Influence
Mentor Senior and mid-level engineers in Kubernetes-native design, distributed systems thinking, and production engineering
Raise engineering quality through code review, design review, and strong technical writing
Influence technical outcomes across teams without relying on formal authority
Work closely with platform, infrastructure, and SRE stakeholders to ensure the domain evolves in a way that supports broader platform needs
About You (Skills / Qualifications)
Demonstrated experience designing and building Kubernetes-native systems, including controllers, operators, CRDs, and production reconciliation logic
Strong track record of writing maintainable, testable, and resilient Go for long-lived distributed or control plane systems
Proven ability to define technical direction across a domain that spans multiple engineers or teams
Experience driving cross-team architecture and resolving ambiguity in interfaces, ownership, and design
Deep understanding of Kubernetes control plane patterns, distributed systems failure modes, and operational trade-offs
Experience creating engineering leverage through standards, reusable components, technical guidance, and architectural clarity
Strong judgement in balancing short-term delivery with…