Principal/Tech Lead Software Engineer

AppRecode is looking for a Staff Engineer to join a client building a cloud-native testing platform that has evolved from an open-source core into a complex, enterprise-grade solution.

The role is focused on architectural leadership, technical decision-making, and driving product evolution in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment. You will not be responsible for test creation or QA processes day-to-day – your mission is to guide technical strategy, reduce technical debt, and ensure the platform scales reliably as commercial traction accelerates.

Project overview

The client is evolving a Kubernetes-native testing platform with a strong focus on: 

• Architectural evolution and technical debt management
• Scalability and performance under growing commercial demand
• Distributed systems running on Kubernetes with Go at the core
• API design, security, and performance optimization
• Integration with cloud infrastructure (GCP preferred), databases (MongoDB, PostgreSQL), and messaging systems (NATS)

You will join a long-term initiative working closely with senior engineers, product teams, where architectural clarity and technical leadership are key success factors.

Responsibilities

• Drive architectural decisions for a complex, distributed Cloud Native platform built on Kubernetes.
• Balance technical debt, new features, and quality improvements in a high-pressure, resource-constrained environment.
• Design and evolve scalable, secure, and performant APIs and backend services in Go.
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to translate customer and business needs into sound technical solutions.
• Mentor and lead senior engineers, fostering best practices in:
  • Cloud Native architecture
  • DevOps (CI/CD, networking, security)
  • Kubernetes operations and development
• Support the evolution of both core platform capabilities and enterprise features, ensuring consistency and maintainability.
• Continuously improve system reliability, observability, and operational excellence across the stack.

Required experience

• 10+ years of software engineering experience across a variety of companies, architectures, and technical contexts.
• Excellence in Kubernetes – both operational (cluster management, networking, security) and development (operators, controllers, CRDs).
• Excellence in Go – deep hands-on experience building production-grade distributed systems.
• Strong Cloud Native / distributed architecture experience – designing and scaling systems on Kubernetes.
• Strong DevOps skills:
  • Networking, security, CI/CD pipelines
  • Experience with GCP (or other major cloud providers, with a preference for GCP).
• Solid API design and implementation skills with a focus on performance and security.
• Experience with MongoDB and PostgreSQL in production environments.
• Product mindset – ability to balance technical excellence with customer and business needs.
• Fluent English – comfortable with daily communication with the client, team, and stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience with performance and functional testing at scale.
• Familiarity with NATS or similar messaging/event systems.
• Frontend development or architecture experience – React, Node.js.
• Experience contributing to or managing open-source projects from a technical/engineering perspective.

Candidate profile

• You come from a strong engineering background with exposure to diverse architectures and complex systems.
• You have real-world experience leading technical decisions and guiding platform evolution.
• You are comfortable in a role that focuses on:
  • architecture and system design,
  • mentoring senior engineers,
  • balancing quality, speed, and resource constraints,
    rather than hands-on feature implementation only.
• You thrive in high-pressure environments and can support teams rapid growth and change.

Role: Staff Engineer (Cloud Native / Kubernetes + Go)
Start: ASAP
Type: Long-term project
Language: English (working language)

What AppRecode offers

• 20 days of paid annual leave plus public holidays.
• 5 paid sick days per year.
• Remote-first work environment.
• Friendly and supportive team culture.
• Personal development plans and access to experienced mentors and technical leaders.
• Reimbursement for sports activities and professional certifications (after probation).
• Ongoing learning opportunities: internal trainings and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Free English classes if you want to further improve your communication skills.