Senior Software Engineer, Substrate

Senior Software Engineer – Substrate

Substrate is the team responsible for Palantir's core production infrastructure — 100s of Kubernetes clusters — from on‑prem to the major cloud hyperscalers, whether they are internet‑connected or air‑gapped, small hardware footprint or large. As a Senior Software Engineer on Substrate, you will design and build Palantir's managed Kubernetes product offerings across all these environments.

You and your team will be responsible for bootstrapping and operating the entire fleet of Kubernetes clusters with zero manual steps by building industry‑leading tooling and contributing to core CNCF components. You will also ensure scale, stability, and security across a matrix of compliance regimes and hosting infrastructure types. Your team culture emphasizes engineering rigor and operational excellence at scale: issues in production should be pre‑empted and deeply root‑caused, and investments in automation and self‑healing systems are key.

If you're excited about infrastructure at scale and working with Kubernetes, this is the right role for you.

• Deliver a container runtime to challenging new environment types—new clouds, on‑prem, edge devices
• Build automation and establish standards for operating Kubernetes securely at scale with zero manual ops overhead
• Drive innovation through adoption of novel Kubernetes features and CNCF tools, making upstream contributions as needed
• Design the next generation of Palantir's infrastructure through a deep understanding of internal systems and CNCF standards

• Systems programming experience with strong proficiency in Go, C/C++ or equivalent
• Hands‑on experience of infrastructure automation tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Puppet or Kubernetes operators, and competent coding in Go, Java, or equivalent for automation or scripting
• Deep familiarity with hardware and OS configurations, diagnostic tooling, networking nuts and bolts
• Deep familiarity with containers (Docker) and orchestration (Kubernetes) at scale
• Experience working with a cloud provider (AWS/Azure/GCE), or sysadmin/SRE experience in data centers
• Experience designing, building, and operating high‑scale observability or infrastructure systems
• Working knowledge of networking fundamentals, experience with CNIs or cloud networking infrastructure preferred

• 4+ years of professional software development experience on core infrastructure with emphasis on operational excellence
• 2+ years of experience contributing to system design or architecture (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

The estimated salary range for this position is $135,000 – $200,000 per year. Total compensation may also include restricted stock units, a sign‑on bonus, and other potential future incentives. This estimate excludes the value of any potential sign‑on bonus, benefits offered, and the potential future value of any long‑term incentives.

• Medical, dental, vision, and voluntary life insurance for employees and qualifying dependents
• Basic life, AD&D, and disability insurance automatically provided
• Commuter benefits
• Relocation assistance
• Flexible paid time off: take what you need, not accrual based; 2 weeks paid time off built into each year (subject to team and business needs); 10 paid holidays per year
• Supportive leave of absence program, including time off for military service and medical events
• Paid leave for new parents and subsidized backup care for all parents
• Fertility and family‑building benefits (e.g., adoption, surrogacy, preservation)
• Child‑expense stipend
• 401(k) plan allowance

We encourage employees to work from our offices to foster collaboration; many teams offer hybrid options (1-2 days a week WFH). Some roles allow for remote work on an exceptional basis, requiring you to work from the state in which you are employed.

Palantir is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer for all, including Veterans and individuals with disabilities. We are committed to making the application and hiring process accessible to everyone and will provide reasonable accommodations for those living with a disability. If you need an accommodation for the application or hiring process, please reach out and let us know how we can help.

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