Senior Software Engineer — Kubernetes Control Plane

Buoyant is currently on the hunt for a seasoned software engineer to take on a pivotal role within their Kubernetes Control Plane team. This remote-first opportunity is ideal for a candidate who thrives on solving complex engineering challenges and has a track record of building robust, production-grade distributed systems from the ground up.

As a core member of their technical team, you will be deeply involved in the evolution of cloud-native infrastructure. The role demands a high level of technical maturity, as you will be responsible for shaping the technologies that allow developers to manage, scale, and secure complex software environments more effectively.

About the role

This position is designed for an individual who is not just looking to code, but to engineer solutions that move the needle in the open-source and cloud-native space. Since Buoyant operates as a remote-first organisation, you will need to be self-motivated and capable of managing your own output while staying closely aligned with global product and design stakeholders.

Working on the Kubernetes Control Plane means you will be dealing with the "brain" of the cluster. You will be expected to balance technical innovation with the practical demands of maintaining a high-quality codebase that serves a diverse global user base. Beyond the technical implementation, you will be expected to advocate for best practices and help foster a culture of mentorship, ensuring that the entire engineering team continues to grow and improve.

Your daily contributions will revolve around maintaining and enhancing the core components of Buoyant’s proprietary and open-source offerings. Key aspects of your responsibilities include:

• Architecting, designing, and implementing sophisticated Kubernetes Control Plane components.
• Actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects, ensuring high standards for community-driven code.
• Collaborating across product, design, and engineering functions to ensure the software aligns with user requirements.
• Conducting deep-dive troubleshooting to resolve complex issues within existing implementations.
• Providing technical guidance and mentorship to junior staff members, contributing to a supportive learning environment.

What they're looking for

To be successful in this role, you should possess a deep understanding of distributed systems and a passion for the cloud-native ecosystem. Specifically, the following qualifications are required:

• A minimum of seven years of professional experience in software engineering, with a preference for candidates who have experience in high-scale production environments.
• Advanced proficiency in Go (Golang), as this is the primary language for Kubernetes-based development.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Kubernetes architecture and the wider cloud-native technology stack.
• A strong grasp of microservices architecture, including the challenges of service discovery, networking, and security.
• Proven ability to work effectively and independently within a remote, distributed team environment.

For South African developers, this role represents a fantastic opportunity to work at the bleeding edge of global infrastructure technology. Roles of this calibre—which demand high-level proficiency in Go and Kubernetes—are highly sought after and typically offer competitive compensation packages in USD, which is a major draw for remote workers in the local market. This kind of experience is highly transferable and sets a strong foundation for a career path leading toward Staff Engineer or Principal Architect roles, either locally with international consultancy firms or directly with global tech product companies.

• 7+ years of software engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Go (Golang).
• Experience with Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies.
• Solid understanding of microservices architecture.
• Ability to work independently in a remote team.