Staff Software Engineer (Guarded Containers)

Chainguard
US
Remote

Who this role is best for

Aimed at senior engineers with deep container expertise who thrive in remote-first environments and enjoy mentoring others.

Best fit for

  • Experienced engineers who can own complex technical components and guide long-term direction.
    — “own critical, technically complex areas of our stack, shape long-term technical direction
  • Go developers with container ecosystem expertise seeking a remote-first culture.
    — “Expertise with containers, container registries, Docker, Kubernetes and its greater ecosystem
  • Infrastructure coders comfortable with Terraform modules and logical resource organization.
    — “proficiency in creating modules and organizing resources logically for reuse

Things to consider

  • 10+ years of software development experience is a hard requirement.
    — “10+ years of experience in software development
  • Must demonstrate ability to work autonomously while seeking help proactively.
    — “ability to work autonomously, take initiative, and seek help proactively

How to stand out

  • Showcase open source contributions in your portfolio or resume.
    — “Author and/or contributor to open-source projects
  • Highlight examples where you mentored engineers or improved quality standards.
    — “Mentor engineers and raise the bar for engineering quality
  • Prepare to discuss your approach to scaling image build systems.
    — “Develop robust tools and services to continue to improve our image build system
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Senior

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

What success looks like

  • Developed new features for Chainguard Images
  • Improved image build system
Typical background
Software engineering experience in container or cloud industry

Skills & requirements

Required

Software DevelopmentContainersKubernetesGo ProgrammingInfrastructure As Code

Preferred

Open-source ContributionAI Integration

Stack & domain

ContainersContainer RegistriesDockerKubernetesTerraformGoImage Build SystemInfrastructure As CodeCollaborationCommunicationMentorshipTechnical LeadershipProblem SolvingDevOpsSecurity

About the role

Original posting from Chainguard via Greenhouse

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk. 

Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.

Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.

The role, in a nutshell:

The successful candidate will be part of our Containers team, whose mission is to develop new features for our customers, build and improve tooling and infrastructure, and maintain product quality standards for our core product – Chainguard Images. As a Staff Engineer, you'll own critical, technically complex areas of our stack, shape long-term technical direction, and drive outcomes that extend beyond your immediate team. You'll collaborate closely with team members, guide technical decisions, and promote a culture of excellence.

What you’ll do:

Collaborate with teammates and cross-functional teams to design innovative services and features that enhance the core product, making it more compelling and valuable.  

Develop robust tools and services  to continue to improve our image build system as it scales.

Own high-impact, deeply technical components of the Chainguard stack, serving as the subject matter expert in those areas

Participate in long-term planning and roadmap discussions, helping identify the key problems the team needs to solve and ensuring they get solved

Mentor engineers and raise the bar for engineering quality across the organization

What we're looking for:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

10+ years of experience in software development, data structures, algorithms, compilers, Makefiles, and toolchains

Expertise with containers, container registries, Docker, Kubernetes and its greater ecosystem

Experience with Terraform or other Infrastructure as Code, and proficiency in creating modules and organizing resources logically for reuse.

Experience writing services or tools in Go

Strong communication skills, proficiency in English, ability to work autonomously, take initiative, and seek help proactively when necessary.

Nice to haves

Author and/or contributor to open-source projects.

Explore Our Work

Dive into the practical side of what we do at Chainguard. These resources provide a hands-on look at our processes and offer an opportunity for in-depth understanding of our product offerings and the technology behind them.

Chainguard Academy 

https://www.chainguard.dev

Base Salary Range$205,000—$231,000 USDAbout Us

We live and breathe our company values:

We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.

We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.

We don't take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.

We trust each other and assume good intentions — We're transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.

A few of the benefits we offer:

Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.

Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).

100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.

∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.

18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year.

If your experience is close but doesn't fulfill all requirements, please apply. We're building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring "Chainguardians" with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard's Global Candidate Privacy Notice.

©2026 Chainguard. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Chainguard careers (Greenhouse)

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