Senior Software Engineer - Managed Kubernetes

Lambda is the #1 GPU Cloud for ML/AI teams training, fine-tuning and inferencing AI models, where engineers can easily, securely and affordably build, test and deploy AI products at scale. Lambda’s product portfolio includes on-prem GPU systems, hosted GPUs across public & private clouds and managed inference services – servicing government, researchers, startups and Enterprises world-wide.

If you'd like to build the world's best deep learning cloud, join us. 

*Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.

Engineering at Lambda is responsible for building and scaling our cloud offering. Our scope includes the Lambda website, cloud APIs and systems as well as internal tooling for system deployment, management and maintenance.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our Managed Kubernetes (Mk8s) team. You will play a crucial role in shaping the architecture, reliability, and automation of our Kubernetes-based infrastructure, which powers mission-critical workloads across our global platform.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain scalable control plane services, operators, and custom Kubernetes controllers, while developing automation in Python/Go for end-to-end cluster lifecycle management — including provisioning, upgrades, patching, and deletion.

• Identify gaps and develop internal tools, APIs, and command-line interfaces (CLIs) that enable customers and ML/AI teams to deploy and effectively monitor inference services.

• Write resilient systems that gracefully handle failure across large-scale distributed environments.

• Develop automated tests to ensure quality and stability, and validate the clusters to identify and address hardware issues before delivery.

• Support and debug production issues through on-call rotation.

You

• Have 6+ years of experience in software engineering, 3+ years leading large-scale complex projects, or tech lead.

• At least two years of experience working on orchestration and deployment systems

• Experience using Kubernetes and third-party operators (CRDs, CSI, CNI, etc.).

• Strong programming skills in Go and Python; ability to collaborate effectively on shared codebases

• Take pride in owning and delivering core components of products and platforms.

• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g. Terraform, Pulumi).

• Solid knowledge of Linux systems, networking, containers, and cloud infrastructure.

Nice to Have

• Deep Kubernetes and Linux expertise

• Experience operating the control plane and low-level pieces of large-scale Kubernetes clusters

• Experience with user-level restrictions and hardening (e.g. AppArmor)

• Experience with HPC clusters, environments & tooling

• Experience with machine learning/AI frameworks

• Expertise with hybrid or multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.

• Familiarity with GPU, Infiniband, or high-performance computing on K8s.

• Past contributions to CNCF projects or Kubernetes SIGs a plus.

If you don’t meet all of these requirements but believe you may be a good fit, please still apply and provide a cover letter that helps us understand your experience and readiness for this role.

Salary Range Information

Based on market data and other factors, the annual salary range for this position is $255,000 - $405,0000. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.

About Lambda

• Founded in 2012, ~350 employees (2024) and growing fast

• We offer generous cash & equity compensation

• Our investors include Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, US Innovative Technology, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, Crescent Cove.

• We are experiencing extremely high demand for our systems, with quarter over quarter, year over year profitability

• Our research papers have been accepted into top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG

• Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

• Wellness and Commuter stipends for select roles

• 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)

• Flexible Paid Time Off Plan that we all actually use

A Final Note:

You do not need to match all of the listed expectations to apply for this position. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.