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Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform

AnthropicSan Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WASoftware Engineering - Infrastructure
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Salary
Not listed
Job type
Full-time
Posted
6 May 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

The Staff+ Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform role at Anthropic involves scaling and operating large-scale AI compute fleets across multiple cloud providers. This position is based in San Francisco, CA, New York City, NY, or Seattle, WA, and is ideal for an experienced distributed systems engineer passionate about AI infrastructure.

Role Overview

Anthropic operates massive AI compute fleets to train and serve frontier models using Kubernetes. The Kubernetes Platform team owns the control plane, scheduler, and core cluster services that keep everything running smoothly. As a Staff+ engineer, the work directly ensures that the computing footprint scales reliably and safely without hitting default performance bottlenecks. This position requires hands-on involvement with custom scheduling plugins, topology-aware placement, and control plane optimization.

Key Responsibilities

Own, operate, and extend the Kubernetes scheduler for large accelerator fleets using custom scheduling plugins, gang scheduling, and topology awareness.
Scale the Kubernetes control plane, including apiserver, etcd, and controller-manager, far beyond typical limits to handle massive node and object growth.
Design, build, and operate vital cluster services such as service discovery that every workload depends upon.
Develop and maintain custom operators, controllers, and Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs).
Partner closely with research, training, and inference teams to turn workload requirements into powerful platform capabilities.
Collaborate with cloud providers regarding essential features and escalations.
Participate in on-call rotations, lead incident response, and design processes like runbooks, SLOs, and postmortems.

Requirements

Significant software engineering experience building and operating production-grade distributed systems.
Proficiency in at least one systems-appropriate language such as Python, Rust, C++, or Go.
Deep, hands-on Kubernetes experience beyond standard usage, specifically with the scheduler, controllers, apiserver, or large multi-tenant clusters.
Proven ability to debug complex issues across the entire stack, spanning from API behavior down to network and node-level root causes.
A strong track record of designing reliable, correct systems with clear failure semantics.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build consensus among stakeholders.
10+ years of relevant industry experience, including leading large and ambiguous infrastructure projects.
A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

Nice to Have

Experience with Kubernetes internals or contributions to projects like kube-scheduler, client-go, controller-runtime, apiserver, or etcd.
Background building or operating batch systems or cluster schedulers such as Volcano, Kueue, Slurm, or internal equivalents.
Experience scaling coordination systems and control planes like ZooKeeper, Consul, etcd, or large DNS and service-mesh deployments.
Familiarity with machine learning infrastructure, including GPUs, TPUs, Trainium, collective networking like NCCL, and gang scheduling.
Experience with AWS or GCP, including EKS, GKE internals, and Infrastructure as Code.
Low-level systems expertise involving Linux kernel tuning, eBPF, or cgroups.

Skills and Tools

Kubernetes
Python
Rust
C++
AWS
GCP
Distributed Systems

Salary and Benefits

Annual Salary Range: $320,000 to $485,000 USD
Competitive compensation and benefits package
Optional equity donation matching
Generous parental leave and vacation time
Flexible working hours
Collaborative office space with a location-based hybrid policy requiring at least 25% time in office
Visa sponsorship available where possible

About the Company

Anthropic is a public benefit corporation dedicated to creating reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems that benefit society. Functioning as a single cohesive team, the organization approaches AI research as an empirical science akin to physics and biology. Employees work collaboratively in a fast-growing environment alongside researchers, policy experts, and business leaders to advance long-term safety and AI capabilities.

How to Apply

To submit an application for this position, please visit the official Anthropic careers page.

Skills and tech stack

PythonAWSGCPKubernetesRustC++

Questions candidates ask

What locations are available for this role?

This role is available in San Francisco, CA, New York City, NY, or Seattle, WA, with a location-based hybrid policy requiring at least 25% time in the office.

What is the salary range for the Kubernetes Platform engineer?

The annual base salary range for this position is $320,000 to $485,000 USD.

Does Anthropic offer visa sponsorship?

Yes, Anthropic sponsors visas and works with an immigration lawyer to assist candidates who receive an offer, though they cannot successfully sponsor for every single role and candidate.

How many years of experience are required?

This position requires 10+ years of relevant industry experience, including time leading large, ambiguous infrastructure projects.

What technical skills are needed for this position?

Candidates need significant experience with production distributed systems, deep hands-on Kubernetes knowledge beyond basic usage, proficiency in systems-appropriate languages like Python, Rust, or C++, and strong debugging skills across the stack.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Anthropic careers page.

Apply on company site