Senior Software Engineer, Platform

Astronomer
Ireland
Remote

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for infrastructure-focused engineers who design and implement scalable cloud systems and collaborate across teams.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience in building and maintaining high-scale PaaS environments and a passion for reliability and operational excellence
    — “Redefining how companies run Apache Airflow at scale”
  • Individuals who have led or contributed to platform engineering practices and internal documentation
    — “Create and maintain comprehensive internal documentation for systems and processes”

Things to consider

  • Periodic on-call responsibilities are expected, which may require availability beyond normal working hours
    — “this role involves periodic on-call for the services we own”
  • The role demands deep technical expertise in specific tools like Bazel, Istio, and Karpenter, which may not be common in other environments
    — “Experience with our particular tech stack components and technologies (deep breath): CircleCi, Chronosphere (Prometheus), Splunk, Bazel, Istio, Playwright, Karpenter, Github [Actions] …”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your hands-on experience with Kubernetes and your contributions to production-grade systems
    — “Strong proficiency in Python, Golang and in-depth experience with Kubernetes (CKA or equivalent or greater)”
  • Showcase your ability to deliver results in high-pressure scenarios, such as during system upgrades or outages
    — “we routinely 'change the wheels on the bus while it’s moving', in a predictable, safe and reliable way”
  • Emphasize your experience with observability principles and how you've applied them in previous roles
    — “Experience with observability principles and technologies, including SLI/SLO definition and tracking”
  • Demonstrate your ability to coordinate with stakeholders and manage project risks effectively
    — “Ability to estimate the scope of work accurately and coordinate with stakeholders to address risks”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • high-quality production platform
  • reliable deployment processes
  • predictable infrastructure
Typical background
software engineeringcloud infrastructureopen-source software

Skills & requirements

Required

PythonGoKubernetesObservabilitySli/sloCommunicationPlatform DesignDelivery CoordinationIncident ManagementInternal Documentation

Preferred

Code ReviewTestingCI/CDVersion ControlAutomationDebugging

Stack & domain

PythonGoKubernetesObservability PrinciplesSli/slo DefinitionTestingCI/CDVersion ControlAutomationDebuggingCommunicationCollaboration

About the role

Original posting from Astronomer via Ashby

Astronomer empowers data teams to bring mission-critical software, analytics, and AI to life and is the company behind Astro, the industry-leading unified DataOps platform powered by Apache Airflow®. Astro accelerates building reliable data products that unlock insights, unleash AI value, and powers data-driven applications. Trusted by more than 800 of the world's leading enterprises, Astronomer lets businesses do more with their data. To learn more, visit www.astronomer.io http://www.astronomer.io.

ABOUT THIS ROLE:

At Astronomer, we’re redefining how companies run Apache Airflow at scale. Our R&D organization is home to some of the most innovative minds in cloud infrastructure and open-source software. We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our Platform Engineering team. You get to go in at the ground level of how our production infrastructure is designed, built, tested and deployed. Your work will directly influence how we build Astro, Observe and our IDE product, as well as how global organizations orchestrate data pipelines at scale—making them faster, more reliable, and easier to manage. If you’re driven by impact, excited by scale, and ready to work on the kind of infrastructure challenges that push the boundaries of what’s possible in cloud-native systems, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

WHAT YOU GET TO DO:

  • Make high-quality, data-driven and experience-driven decisions on how we build this and the next generation of our production platform, then deliver the results.
  • Own and build how we test, build and deploy code in a high-scale PaaS environment.
  • Collaborate across the whole company on how we design production systems, set standards and make technology choices for new and existing products, and how these fit together.
  • Deliver results - we routinely “change the wheels on the bus while it’s moving”, in a predictable, safe and reliable way.
  • Be at the forefront of how we work together as a Platform Engineering team.
  • Blaze a Trail: Work on a small but growing team on building out the Platform/Reliability practice for the company
  • Be an Owner: Be directly involved in decision-making on what we work on, as well as how we work on it. Make promises, and keep them.
  • Do Sensible Things: Be directly involved in determining how our platform works. Participate in incident management and determine sensible practices as the platform evolves.
  • Garage Door Open: Create and maintain comprehensive internal documentation for systems and processes, ensuring clarity and accessibility.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE ROLE:

  • Strong experience in Non-Abstract Systems design https://sre.google/workbook/non-abstract-design/ and implementation.
  • Strong proficiency in Python, Golang and in-depth experience with Kubernetes (CKA or equivalent or greater).
  • Experience with observability principles and technologies, including SLI/SLO definition and tracking.
  • Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with experience in working with a globally distributed team in delivery.
  • A passion for reliability and operational excellence. A low tolerance for toil and other nonsense.
  • Ability to estimate the scope of work accurately and coordinate with stakeholders to address risks and ensure successful project delivery.
  • Experience with (and ideally strong opinions on) software development best practices, such as code review, testing, CI/CD, version control, automation and debugging.
  • Proactive approach to identifying and addressing issues, with a focus on ownership and accountability.

BONUS POINTS IF YOU HAVE:

  • Experience working on a SaaS/PaaS product across multiple cloud providers.
  • Experience with our particular tech stack components and technologies (deep breath): CircleCI, Chronosphere (Prometheus), Splunk, Bazel, Istio, Playwright, Karpenter, Github [Actions] …
  • Experience of the innards and quirks of AWS, GCP and (particularly) Azure.
  • Participated in an on-call rotation - this role involves periodic on-call for the services we own.
  • Experience with Apache Airflow.

The estimated total compensation for this role ranges from €105,000 - €175,000 based on leveling and geography, along with an equity component and a comprehensive benefits package. This range is merely an estimate; actual compensation may deviate from this range based on skills, experience, and qualifications.

At Astronomer, we value diversity. We are an equal opportunity employer: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Source: Astronomer careers (Ashby)

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