Staff Software Engineer, Chainguard
Virtual Machines
$170-213k
+ Stock options
Software supply chain security company
Open for applications
Software supply chain security company
201-500 employees
Open for applications
$170-213k
+ Stock options
201-500 employees
Company mission
To make the software supply chain secure by default.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of professional experience working on and building Linux operating systems
- Proven experience working on upstream open source technologies
- Proven experience building and packaging Linux software (APK, RPM, DEB or similar)
- Proven experience working with at least one major cloud provider (e.g. GCP, AWS, Azure) and cloud-specific integrations or agents
- Proven experience working on bootable containers and/or micro vm technologies
- Experience building, configuring or tuning the Linux kernel
- Experience working across kernel and user space and related technologies (systemd, SELinux, AppArmor, etc)
- Experience with bootloaders and Secure Boot
- Experience working with configuration management tools (e.g. Ansible, Puppet, etc) or first-boot configuration management agents (cloud-init, Ignition, etc)
- Proficiency in at least one programming language (Go preferred), with strong scripting and automation skills
- Strong debugging and problem-solving skills at both the package, containers and virtual machine levels
- Strong communication skills, proficiency in English, ability to work autonomously in a remote-first environment, take initiative, and seek help proactively when necessary
- Passion for quality, security, and attention to detail
- Experience with compliance frameworks (CIS, STIG) a strong plus
- Experience with FIPS is a strong plus
- Experience with Kubernetes and managed container/Kubernetes services (EKS, ECS, GKE, AKS) is a strong plus
- Experience with VMWare vSphere and ESXi is a strong plus
What the job involves
- As a Staff Engineer on the Chainguard VMs team, you will help shape the future of Virtual Machines for Chainguard
- You’ll help define and develop the evolution of zero-to-low CVEs virtual machines. And work on creating secure and reliable systems to solve customer problems
- Your expertise will help develop a virtualized the most secure Linux operating system and expand it across multiple different platforms
- You’ll work with a diverse range of open-source software, build tools, and programming languages
- Design, implement and optimize linux operating systems features
- Collaborate in the creation of developer tools
- Collaborate in the design, implementation, optimization or maintenance of secure, automated build and test systems in cloud environments
- Improve quality and reliability by continuously refine testing, debugging and release processes
- Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to set technical direction, drive roadmap execution, and establish process excellence
- Mentor, review, and enable other engineers by sharing systems knowledge, debugging strategies, and "meta" tooling insights
- Partner with internal teams (OS, Delivery, Sustaining) to ensure our product and services meet critical SLAs and SLOs
Our take
Developers rely on open source code and apps in their day to day work, but when the provenance of the code is unknown this creates potential weaknesses that cybercriminals can exploit. Chainguard exists to build security into the coding supply chain by making it possible for companies to enforce security policies based on auditable signatures baked into the code, and by providing a security-first set of container images with no known vulnerabilities for cloud app developers.
In the wake of huge cyber attacks like the Log4j vulnerability and Solarwinds breach, software supply chain security has been an area of major focus for startups hoping to solve problems in this sector. However, most of these focus on scanning and detection of threats. Chainguard's approach comes from the other end of the process, focusing on building security into the software itself. It was built by former Google engineers aware of software developers existing workloads, so is designed to be easily installed and integrated into existing automation systems like Terraform.
Chainguard completed a Series C funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures in 2024, minting it as a new Unicorn on the cybersecurity scene. It is using this funding to expand its go-to-market internationally and expand its Chainguard Images product.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
55% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Oct 2025
$280m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Apr 2025
$356m
SERIES D
Total funding: $892m
Company benefits
- Equity/stock options
- Unlimited PTO
- Remote work with flexible coworking and team meetup opportunities
- Home office and internet stipend
- 100% health/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your family
Company HQ
Everest, Kirkland, WA
Leadership
Dan Lorenc
(CEO & Co-Founder)Before co-founding Chainguard was a Software Engineer at Google, Disqus and Microsoft.
Kim Lewandowski
(Head of Product & Co-Founder)Prior to co-founding Chainguard was a Product Manager with Google. Before that was the Head of Product & Engineering at Brit + Co and the founder of Spotwag.
Matthew Moore
(CTO & Co-Founder)Was a Software Engineer at VMware, Google and Microsoft.
Ville Aikas
(Co-founder)Was a Senior Staff Engineer at VMware and a Software Engineer for Google and the University of Washingtom. Was previously Owner at VA Systems.
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