Staff software engineer

As vCluster Labs’ Staff Software Engineer, you aren’t just writing code; you are defining the future of tenant isolation. In this role, you will serve as a core architect of the vCluster Platform, tasked with navigating complex Kubernetes internals to build tools used by the world's leading engineering teams.

As a Staff Software Engineer (Backend), your role will include:

• Kubernetes Deep-Dive: Work intimately with Kubernetes internals to push the boundaries of container orchestration.
• Go Development: Write high-performance, resilient Go code to power the core logic of the vCluster platform.
• End-to-End Ownership: Take full ownership of your work. You are self-driven and capable of managing feature development from technical design to release without needing constant oversight.
• Open Source Innovation: Engage with the community and contribute to our open-source projects. You will help define the next generation of tenancy models, creating scalable solutions for isolation and resource sharing beyond simple namespaces.
• Technical Problem Solving: Tackle hard engineering challenges where the solution isn't always on ChatGPT, requiring a deep understanding of systems architecture.

This role could be a fit for you if you bring:

• Kubernetes Mastery: Deep expertise in Kubernetes internals. We value a profound understanding of how Kubernetes works (architectural patterns, networking, storage).
• Technical Proficiency: Strong programming skills in Go. While Kubernetes knowledge is paramount, you must be able to translate that knowledge into clean, efficient Go code.
• Builder Mindset: You build things outside of work. You have active GitHub projects, experiments, or open-source contributions that demonstrate your passion for building.
• High Agency: You are highly technical and self-driven. You thrive in environments where you are expected to identify problems and solve them autonomously.
• Start-Up Grit: Experience working in a high-growth environment. You are comfortable with ambiguity and eager to make an impact.

Bonus points for:

• Community Contributions: A history of contributions to the Kubernetes project (Upstream), including documentation updates, Pull Requests (PRs), or active participation in Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
• Startup Experience: You have been at an early-stage organization where you function autonomously and strive towards building something great.

About vCluster Labs

We're the #1 platform for AI infrastructure, trusted by the world's fastest-growing AI cloud builders. We're a venture-backed startup that's raised over $28M from top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures (first investor in OpenAI, GitLab, Stripe, and DoorDash), and we're in a hyper-growth phase looking for motivated people to join our team. Our headquarters are in San Francisco (Salesforce Tower), but our team is distributed around the globe with a remote-first culture.

We give AI Cloud providers and AI factories a hyperscaler-like experience on their own GPU infrastructure. Our platform runs the full stack an operator needs, from bare metal provisioning and node lifecycle management up through managed Kubernetes, Slurm, Ray, and inference clusters, so they can turn raw GPUs into cluster products they can sell in days instead of spending 12+ months building it themselves. Today we power over 100,000 GPUs and 1 million CPUs across 50+ AI clouds and Fortune 500 companies, backed by a team of 40+ infrastructure engineers who build alongside our customers rather than just shipping them software.

We're the company behind vCluster, the open source technology for tenant isolation on Kubernetes, with 11,000+ GitHub stars and 40M+ tenant clusters created since 2021. Open source is part of our DNA. At KubeCon North America 2025, we launched our Infrastructure Tenancy Platform for AI, a Kubernetes-native framework built for running AI, ML, and GPU-intensive workloads anywhere, with an NVIDIA-validated reference architecture for DGX systems.

Benefits

We offer the following benefits:

• Competitive Salary: We offer a competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Premium Insurance: Health, dental, vision, and life Insurance, including plans for you and eligible dependents (benefits vary depending on country).
• Flexible Working Schedule: You have a doctor’s appointment or need to head to the supermarket to get groceries at 2pm? We won’t have an issue with that. To us, results matter more than clocking in and out at the same time every day.
• Workplace Flexibility: We’re very flexible about where you work. We know things can change in life and we’re happy to adjust the work environment for you along the way.

Culture & Values

At vCluster Labs, we value and stand for:

• Make it Happen: We have a relentless bias for action and the grit to push through obstacles. We do whatever it takes to figure it out, put in the work, and ruthlessly prioritize the actions that drive measurable impact for the business.
• Own the Outcome: We understand that our responsibility doesn't end when a task is checked off; it ends when the value is delivered. We connect our daily individual actions to the broader success of the company and our customers.
• Create Wow: We measure success by the experience we generate, both inside and outside the company. For our customers, this means impressive speed and intuitive experiences. For our team, this means going the extra mile to support one another and to continuously drive each other to new heights.
• Open Source, Open Mind: We are actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects. Internally, we foster meritocracy — the strongest ideas win, no matter who or where they come from.
• Build Tomorrow’s Standards, Intentionally: We don't just ship software; we define the state-of-the-art of tomorrow. We are fearless in tearing down old approaches to build something better, but we are disciplined in how we do it because we know our users rely on our technology to run mission-critical infrastructure platforms.