vCluster Labs

Engineering Tech Lead (vNode)

United States

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 55 days ago

Node.jsGitDockerKubernetesLinuxMachine LearningSalesforce

About the role

You raise the bar without becoming the bottleneck.
We raised +$30M from top-tier VCs such as Khosla Ventures (first investor in OpenAI, GitLab, Stripe, Doordash) and are in a hyper-growth phase looking for motivated people to complement our team.

You will partner directly with the vNode founding engineers, run the technical bar for the team, and ship the work that decides whether AI Clouds and regulated enterprises can adopt vNode as their default isolation layer.
Drive the architecture for how vNode wraps containerd, integrates with the kubelet, and exposes safe isolation primitives.
Own how vNode plugs into the node lifecycle: CRI, kubelet device plugins, cgroups v2, eviction, and the rough edges between Kubernetes' node model and a runtime that does not assume one tenant per node.
Run technical design reviews, set the pattern for testing isolation guarantees, and mentor the engineers shipping alongside you.
You set technical direction by writing the design doc, prototyping the hard part, and then bringing the team along.
We do whatever it takes to figure it out, put in the work, and ruthlessly prioritize the actions that drive measurable impact for the business.
For our team, this means going the extra mile to support one another and to continuously drive each other to new heights.
Own the Outcome: We understand that our responsibility doesn't end when a task is checked off
Create Wow: We measure success by the experience we generate, both inside and outside the company.
Build Tomorrow's Standards, Intentionally: We don't just ship software

You have worked inside the kubelet, the CRI layer, or a node-resident agent.
You know what cgroups v2, OCI hooks, and the kubelet's PLEG do and where they break.
you have shipped against them and can reason about their failure modes.
You have built or operated infrastructure where the threat model includes hostile workloads on shared hosts (AI Cloud operators, multi-tenant SaaS, regulated industries).
You have a doctor's appointment or need to head to the supermarket to get groceries at 2pm?
This role could be a fit for you if you bring: - Deep container runtime experience: You have shipped production work against containerd directly, not just consumed it through Docker or Kubernetes.
You are not a people manager, but you are the engineer the team copies.

You have shipped production work against containerd directly, not just consumed it through Docker or Kubernetes.
Direct experience with Kata Containers, gVisor, or another sandboxed/isolated runtime is a strong plus.

We offer the following benefits:
Competitive Salary: We offer a competitive compensation package, including equity.
Platinum-Level Insurance: Health, dental, vision, and life Insurance, including plans for you and eligible dependents (benefits vary depending on country).
Flexible Working Schedule: You have a doctor's appointment or need to head to the supermarket to get groceries at 2pm?
Workplace Flexibility: We're very flexible about where you work.

We are actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects.
Internally, we foster meritocracy - the strongest ideas win, no matter who or where they come from.
We connect our daily individual actions to the broader success of the company and our customers.
For our customers, this means impressive speed and intuitive experiences.
At vCluster Labs, we value and stand for:
Open Source, Open Mind: We are actively contributing to and maintaining open-source projects.

This listing is sourced directly from vCluster Labs's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.