Staff Software Engineer – On-Prem

CircleCI

. Build AI-natively as the default approach to engineering problems .

Posted 10/16/2026full-timeRemote • Canada, United StatesLead💰 CA$195,000 - CA$265,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates extensive experience in building and deploying production backend systems, with a strong focus on Kubernetes and Go. Capable of translating business goals into technical strategies while mentoring engineers and enhancing technical quality.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Kubernetes ExpertiseGo ProgrammingAPI DesignTechnical LeadershipProduction Systems Deployment

ATS Keywords

Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills

GoAPI DesignData ModellingDistributed SystemsOperational ToolingKubernetesHelmTechnical DocumentationArchitecture Decision MakingAI Tools Application

Soft Skills

MentoringCollaborationProblem Solving

Tools & Technologies

CircleCI ServerOpenTelemetryInternal PlatformsRelease AutomationDiagnostics Tools

Industry Keywords

On-Premises SoftwareSelf-Hosted SaaSCustomer-Operated EnvironmentsAir-Gapped EnvironmentsRestricted-Network Environments

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Distributed SystemsKubernetesGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Build AI-natively as the default approach to engineering problems
Own the platform strategy for tooling, test infrastructure, and release automation used to ship services into CircleCI Server
Simplify and improve the installation experience for CircleCI Server
Make upgrades safer and day-to-day operation easier through sensible defaults
Own CircleCI Server’s Kubernetes foundation and supporting tooling and infrastructure
Standardize observability on OpenTelemetry
Build diagnostics to help operators and support engineers identify root causes quickly
Partner with Support, Customer Engineering, and customers to identify recurring issues and resolve them at the source
Partner with Product and Engineering Management to translate business goals into technical strategy
Make architecture and technical tradeoff decisions aligned with business needs
Mentor engineers and raise technical quality through reviews and design discussions

Requirements

What you’ll need

8+ years building production backend and infrastructure systems
Strong proficiency in Go
Experience with API design, data modelling, distributed systems, and operational tooling
Deep experience designing, deploying, and debugging production systems on Kubernetes
Deep experience with Helm
Experience with customer-operated environments, including air-gapped and restricted-network environments
Experience building internal platforms, tools, frameworks, and systems
Daily use of AI tools and ability to discuss their applications and limitations
Experience making architecture decisions spanning multiple systems and teams
Experience documenting technical reasoning and weighing business tradeoffs
Technical leadership and mentoring experience
Experience shipping on-premises or self-hosted software
Experience with enterprise on-premises, self-hosted SaaS, or customer-installed distributed systems

Benefits

Comp & perks

Reasonable accommodation for job application, interview, essential job functions, and employment benefits and privileges
Global, remote workforce
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer
Human-only review of applications available on request
Option to opt out of AI interview note-taking
Interview note-taking opt-out does not affect candidacy