Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes

As a Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes at CloudZero, your primary responsibilities will include designing and building APIs, developing services that scale for complex containerized workloads, and collaborating with other engineers and Product Management to deliver customer-focused features. You'll also work on maintaining high-quality backend code primarily written in Python and use your expertise to improve our engineering processes.

To qualify for the Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes role at CloudZero, you should have over 5 years of experience in building and maintaining complex backend systems, particularly in the cloud. Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and its ecosystem—such as Helm and Prometheus—is preferred. Additionally, proficiency in Python and SQL is essential, with a passion for delivering high-quality software and collaborating across teams.

CloudZero values work-life balance and offers flexibility for its Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes position. While the core hours are set in Eastern Standard Time, there is room for you to arrange your schedule as needed to accomplish your tasks effectively. We believe in providing our engineers with the autonomy to manage their work while supporting team collaboration.

At CloudZero, the Senior Software Engineer - Kubernetes will be part of small, tight-knit teams that foster collaboration and innovation. Our teams work using Kanban flow, allowing for iterative development as we collectively design, build, and maintain features that solve real customer problems, thereby ensuring a steady stream of impactful contributions to our platform.

Kubernetes is essential for the Senior Software Engineer role at CloudZero due to its widespread utilization among our customers, with about two-thirds relying on it. As our key area of differentiation, expertise in Kubernetes allows our team to efficiently manage and manipulate large-scale data from customer environments, ensuring our solutions provide unparalleled insights into cloud costs.

When discussing your Kubernetes experience, focus on specific implementations, challenges you faced, and how you overcame them. Highlight any tools you used, such as Helm or Prometheus, and give examples of projects where you've deployed containers, managed orchestration, and increased efficiency.

To answer this, discuss your approach to writing clean, readable code. Emphasize the importance of following design patterns, code reviews, and utilizing comments effectively. Mention your practices around testing and refactoring to keep the codebase healthy and maintainable.

When approaching collaboration with cross-functional teams, focus on communication skills. Discuss how you engage with product managers and other engineers to gather insights and iterate quickly based on feedback. Demonstrating your openness to input and ability to integrate diverse perspectives into your work will showcase your collaborative spirit.

Describe a specific problem, such as performance issues or scaling challenges. Outline your analysis process, the steps you took, and what technologies or principles you applied to resolve the problem. Incorporate lessons learned and how they improved your future work.

In your answer, talk about specific AWS services, such as AWS Lambda or AWS Step Functions, and how they integrate with Kubernetes. Share examples of projects where you utilized these services to enhance functionality or performance, illustrating your comprehensive understanding of the cloud ecosystem.

Discuss common security practices such as limiting permissions, using secrets management, implementing network policies, and the importance of regular audits. Mention any specific tools or frameworks you've used to enhance security within Kubernetes environments.

Share a specific example of a process improvement you implemented. Discuss the issue, your approach to improve it, and the measurable outcomes it generated, such as increased efficiency or reduced error rates, emphasizing your ability to drive meaningful change within the team.

Talk about design patterns like MVC, Singleton, or Observer, and explain when and why you apply them based on project needs. Show your understanding of how these patterns help in structuring code, making it more reusable and easier to maintain.

In your response, explain how you prioritize tasks, visualize your workload, and ensure you remain focused on delivering customer value. Mention any tools or methodologies you adopt to maintain productivity and flexibility within the Kanban structure.

Discuss what excites you about cloud cost management, including its challenges and the impact of effective cost management on businesses. Emphasize your desire to contribute to solutions that help organizations optimize their cloud investments and the role this plays in your professional aspirations.