Lead/Staff Software Engineer, Infrastructure at Armada

About the Company Armada is an edge computing startup that provides computing infrastructure to remote areas where connectivity and cloud infrastructure is limited, as well as areas where data needs to be processed locally for real-time analytics and AI at the edge. We’re looking to bring on the most brilliant minds to help further our mission of bridging the digital divide with advanced technology infrastructure that can be rapidly deployed anywhere. About the role We are seeking a Lead/Staff Software Engineer to join our Edge organization and drive the technical vision across our Platform, Security, and Networking domains. This is a leadership role for a visionary engineer who lives at the intersection of software, networking, and platform infrastructure. You will lead the overarching architectural strategy for the core services that power the Armada Edge Platform, defining the integration fabric that unifies a hybrid fleet of Azure Local, OpenShift, and Kubernetes clusters at a global scale. As a technical multiplier, you will also guide the automation software strategy that provisions and manages our physical network fabric, overseeing the architecture that bootstraps firewalls and switches alongside our compute nodes. Location. This role is office-based at our Bellevue, Washington office. What You'll Do (Key Responsibilities) • Technical Strategy & Leadership: Define and drive long-term technical roadmaps for the Edge organization, ensuring architectural alignment across platform engineering, observability, networking, and security capabilities. Mentor a team of highly skilled engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous engineering excellence. • Advanced Edge Orchestration: Architect the next-generation control plane and robust infrastructure services that abstract platform complexity, creating a unified API for deploying to Azure Local, OpenShift, and standard Kubernetes clusters. Direct the engineering of complex, highly scalable Zero‑Touch Provisioning (ZTP) workflows for bare‑metal compute nodes. • Network Systems Architecture: Lead the design of software services in Golang and Python to automate the provisioning and lifecycle management of Juniper SRX firewalls and switches. Champion intent-based networking paradigms, building automated workflows for ZTP of network gear programmatically via Netconf/YANG or XML APIs. • Zero-Trust Security Vision: Pioneer the organization's security software components, dictating enterprise standards for automated certificate management (PKI) and secure identity bootstrapping (SPIFFE/SPIRE). Oversee the implementation of software to enforce Zero Trust principles, ensuring strict, secure attestation of compute nodes and network devices. Required Qualifications • Software Engineering Leadership: 12+ years of professional development experience, with a proven track record as a Staff or Principal-level engineer focusing on backend systems, distributed architecture, platform engineering, or network automation. • Golang Expertise: Expert-level proficiency in Golang (7+ years preferred), with extensive experience architecting highly scalable system-level daemons, control planes, or high-performance API services. • Network Software Engineering: Proven experience designing software systems to provision and manage network devices (e.g., Juniper SRX) using programmatic interfaces like Netconf, RESTconf, or gRPC. • Hybrid & Distributed Infrastructure: Authoritative technical knowledge of Kubernetes, Azure Local (Azure Stack HCI), or OpenShift architectures at an enterprise scale. • Linux Internals & Networking: Experience with Linux systems programming, the networking stack, and troubleshooting within bare-metal environments, alongside a strong understanding of Docker, OCI runtimes, and L2/L3 networking protocols including BGP, OSPF, VLANs, and IPSec. • Security-as-Code: Proven leadership in implementing PKI, mTLS, and Zero-Trust principles to enforce network and node security policies globally. Preferred Qualifications • Demonstrated experience leading the design of Custom Kubernetes Operators or Controllers to manage highly complex external infrastructure. • Extensive hands-on experience with Azure SDKs or interacting with Azure Resource Manager (ARM) APIs programmatically. • Familiarity with Ansible for declarative network configuration management. • Deep expertise with gRPC and Protobuf for high-performance internal service communication. Why Join? • Be part of a team building the future of distributed computing and AI, impacting our innovative Galleon data center deployments and their integration with Atlas. • Work with the latest technologies in edge computing, mobile data centers, AI infrastructure, Kubernetes, and cloud integration. • We are a rapidly growing company with ample opportunities for advancement. • Collaborate with talented and passionate individuals dedicated to pushing boundaries. Compensation For U.S. Based candidates: To ensure fairness and transparency, the starting base salary range for this role for candidates in the U.S. are listed below, varying based on location experience, skills, and qualifications. In addition to base salary, this role will also be offered equity and subsidized benefits (details available upon request). Benefits • Competitive base salary and equity • Medical, dental, and vision (subsidized cost) • Health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), and dependent care FSAs (DCFSA) • Retirement plan options, including 401(k) and Roth 401(k) • Unlimited paid time off (PTO) • 14 paid company holidays per year #LI-ST1 #LI-Onsite #525 Compensation$187,500—$234,400 USD You're a Great Fit if You're • A go-getter with a growth mindset. You're intellectually curious, have strong business acumen, and actively seek opportunities to build relevant skills and knowledge • A detail-oriented problem-solver. You can independently gather information, solve problems efficiently, and deliver results with a "get-it-done" attitude • Thrive in a fast-paced environment. You're energized by an entrepreneurial spirit, capable of working quickly, and excited to contribute to a growing company • A collaborative team player. You focus on business success and are motivated by team accomplishment vs personal agenda • Highly organized and results-driven. Strong prioritization skills and a dedicated work ethic are essential for you Equal Opportunity Statement At Armada, we are committed to fostering a work environment where everyone is given equal opportunities to thrive. As an equal opportunity employer, we strictly prohibit discrimination or harassment based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other characteristic protected by law. This policy applies to all employment decisions, including hiring, promotions, and compensation. Our hiring is guided by qualifications, merit, and the business needs at the time. Unsolicited Resumes and Candidates Armada does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from external agencies or recruiters. All candidates must apply directly through our careers page. Any resumes submitted by agencies without a prior signed agreement will be considered unsolicited and Armada will not be obligated to pay any fees.