Staff Software Engineer - Applied AI

At Stacklok, we’re an AI-first company led by Kubernetes co-founder Craig McLuckie, helping enterprise developers connect the data, systems, and services that power their businesses today with the agentic and assistive AI systems they’re building for tomorrow. We believe the shift from applications to agents is the next major evolution in software, and we’re building the foundation that helps teams make that leap with confidence.

Our open source platform, ToolHive, provides developers with a powerful yet simple way to securely connect AI systems to real-world environments, delivering the right context at the right time. It solves tough challenges like security, access control, and observability without adding friction to the developer experience. By using open protocols like MCP (Model Context Protocol) and a highly pluggable architecture, supported by a community first development approach, ToolHive allows enterprises to run AI agents safely behind firewalls, with full control over data flow, context, and decision-making.

Connect With Us!

Location

This is a hybrid role that requires in-person work three days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We believe this approach balances flexibility with the value of in-person collaboration and community.

Our current office is located at:
3120 139th Avenue SE, Suite 500
Bellevue, WA 98005

Please note: we are planning to relocate to a more central location in the near future.

The Opportunity

Stacklok is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to architect the future of our Applied AI platform. You’ll lead the design and development of advanced Tools and AI agents that transform conversational interfaces into autonomous systems capable of taking real-world action.

Operating at the intersection of LLMs, secure infrastructure, and enterprise systems, you'll turn AI’s theoretical promise into production-ready tools and solutions. These agents will integrate deeply with organizational tools and data, giving knowledge workers powerful new capabilities.

As a Staff Engineer, you’ll shape technical strategy, design scalable architectures, and contribute hands-on across the stack. You’ll mentor engineers, drive technical excellence across teams, and help define the best practices that position us at the forefront of enterprise AI.

If you thrive in fast-moving environments, enjoy building high-leverage systems, and see versatility as a strength, not a stretch, this is your opportunity to lead with impact.

What Success Looks Like: First 6-12 months

• Technical Context Mastered: You’ve rapidly developed deep fluency in the architecture, infrastructure, and design rationale by reviewing codebases, design docs, and engaging across teams. This enabled high-impact contributions and architectural leadership.
  
  
• AI Agents and Tools Delivered: You’ve shipped 1-2 vertical AI solutions that reduced manual operations by 40%+. You navigated the ambiguity of defining new product categories while co-creating with strategic design partners.
  
  
• Evaluation Framework Established: You built a scalable evaluation framework with automated testing, performance benchmarks, and safety guardrails. It now serves as the standard for all future agent deployments across the organization.
  
  
• Led Engineering Team: You’ve built, led, and mentored a focused team of 3-4 engineers dedicated to agent and tool development. You set technical direction, established best practices, and fostered a culture of rapid iteration and knowledge sharing.
  
  
• Strategic Partnerships Formed: You co-developed technical solutions with 2-3 key customers or technology partners, validating product-market fit and opening new market opportunities.
  
  
• Data-Driven Iteration Enabled: You implemented telemetry and feedback systems that captured real-time usage data and customer insights. These informed architectural improvements and drove iterative solution refinement.
  
  
• Cross-Functional Alignment Achieved: You built strong, trust-based relationships across Product, Design, AI Research, and Marketing. This enabled clear goal alignment, open communication, and integrated execution.

In This Role, You Will

• Design and Ship AI Agents and Tools: Build production-grade solutions that solve complex business problems across multiple industries, owning the full lifecycle from architecture to deployment and optimization. Evaluate tradeoffs between building custom MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers versus developing standalone agents, considering factors such as data access patterns, security requirements, scalability needs, and maintenance overhead. 
  
  
• Lead Discovery and Solution Design: Run technical discovery with customers and stakeholders to uncover automation opportunities, translate needs into technical specs, and prototype innovative agent workflows.
  
  
• Define Architecture and Standards: Set architectural direction and lead code reviews for AI systems. Establish scalable, reliable, and maintainable design patterns and development standards.
  
  
• Integrate AI Through Collaboration: Work closely with AI Research and Product teams to evaluate and embed advanced models and techniques into real-world applications, balancing innovation with production readiness.
  
  
• Drive Continuous Agent Improvement: Build and operate observability systems that surface performance metrics, user behaviors, and system dynamics to enhance reliability and effectiveness over time.
  
  
• Mentor and Grow Engineering Talent: Foster a culture of ownership, safety, and learning where peers feel empowered to take initiative and continuously develop their craft.
  
  
• Champion AI-First Engineering: Use AI tools and workflows to streamline development, inform decisions, and accelerate innovation in how software is built and delivered.

We understand 

Not everyone will meet every requirement listed, and that’s perfectly okay. We encourage you to apply regardless of your self-assessment. We value a diverse range of skills and experiences and believe your unique perspective can make a significant impact. We want to hear from you!

Desired Skills & Experience

• Technical Leadership: Proven ability to drive technical strategy and architectural decisions in complex, multi-team environments. Experience leading technical design reviews, establishing coding standards, and making critical technology choices that balance innovation with production stability.
  
  
• Advanced Python Expertise: Must have advanced Python skills, including async programming, performance optimization, and a strong understanding of AI/ML library internals. Should be comfortable with prompt engineering.
  
  
• Evaluation Systems Design: Expertise in building comprehensive evaluation suites, including automated testing, human-in-the-loop evaluation, and regression detection.
  
  
• Agent and Tool Framework Fluency: Deep expertise in production-grade agent orchestration frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, Semantic Kernel, Haystack, FastMCP, Python MCP SDK or comparable frameworks and  libraries.
  
  
• Production-Grade RAG Infrastructure: Deep expertise in vector databases, embedding strategies, retrieval optimization, and RAG pipeline design. Must balance accuracy, latency, and cost in enterprise deployments.
  
  
• Production-Grade MCP Servers: Build and deploy robust MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to production environments, ensuring high availability, security, and performance at scale. Demonstrate deep familiarity with the MCP specification, including protocol implementation details, message handling patterns, and resource management strategies. 
  
  
• Distributed Systems Architecture: Experience designing scalable, fault-tolerant agent systems using microservices, event-driven patterns, and proper state management.
  
  
• Cloud-Native Deployment (Kubernetes/Cloud Platforms): Expertise in containerization, orchestration, and multi-cloud deployment strategies. Must design for high availability, auto-scaling, and efficient resource utilization.
  
  
• AI Observability and Monitoring: Experience designing comprehensive monitoring for non-deterministic systems, including LangSmith and Langfuse integration. Must track both technical metrics and business outcomes effectively.
  
  
• Security and Privacy: Awareness of enterprise security and compliance, including experience with authentication, authorization, data privacy, and regulatory requirements.
  
  
• OSS Experience: Experience contributing to or maintaining open source software projects, with demonstrated ability to collaborate in distributed development environments
  
  
• Communication: Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across engineering, product, design, and business teams.
  
  
• Startup Mindset: Self-motivated and hands-on. Thrives in dynamic, fast-changing environments and drives clarity through action.

#LI-Hybrid

Why Join Us?

At Stacklok, we believe great technology is built by teams that support, challenge, and inspire one another. We are AI maximalists, confident in its potential and committed to ensuring it is used in ways that are safe and sustainable.

You will join a highly motivated, collaborative team with deep experience building some of the world’s most impactful technologies. We work in the open, side by side with the community, with strong roots in open source, cloud-native technologies, security, and developer tools.

We offer competitive compensation, equity, comprehensive healthcare, and a flexible work environment - including adaptable work hours and flexible PTO to support your success. 

If you're excited about the future of AI, and want to build alongside people who care deeply about their craft, their community, and each other, we would love to hear from you.

Stacklok Inc, is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law.