Staff Software Engineer
Kai · San Jose, CA, US
Checked against rippling. Still accepting applications.
- Location
- San Jose, CA, US
- Posted
**Kai** is the AI company rebuilding cybersecurity for the machine-speed era. Founded by second time founders and trusted by Fortune 500 enterprises, Kai is building a future where security has no categories, no silos, and no human speed bottlenecks. The Kai Agentic AI Platform replaces fragmented, human-limited workflows with agentic AI systems that continuously contextualize, assess, reason, and execute security work at machine speed - making human defenders, superhuman.
**Why Join Kai**
- Well-funded: With $125M raised, we have the capital, runway, and resolve to rebuild cybersecurity from first principles.
- Proven: We've earned the trust of Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies, and we're just getting started. Their confidence in Kai reflects what we've built: an AI-powered cybersecurity platform that performs at the scale and speed the enterprise demands.
- Experienced founders: Our founding team consists of second-time entrepreneurs, each with over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. Their proven expertise and vision drive our ambitious goals.
- World-class leadership team: Our Heads of AI, Engineering, and Product bring extensive experience from some of the world’s most influential companies, ensuring top-tier mentorship, direction, and vision.
- Frontier AI Applied Research Team: Our researchers operate at the leading edge of agentic AI systems, translating breakthrough capabilities into real-world cybersecurity applications.
- Generous compensation: We offer highly competitive salaries, equity options, and a supportive work environment. Your contributions will be valued and rewarded as we grow together.
As a **Staff Software****Engineer , you’ll be a technical leader and hands-on contributor,** driving critical initiatives from concept to production. You’ll architect, build, and mentor while partnering cross-functionally with Product, AI, and Security. This is a high-impact role where you’ll influence technical direction, mentor engineers, and ensure delivery of scalable, secure services that meet enterprise-grade expectations.
**What You’ll Do**
- **Own end-to-end delivery** of major platform initiatives, from design through deployment and post-launch success.
- **Design, develop, and optimize** distributed microservices in Golang for scale, reliability, and performance.
- **Collaborate across teams** — Product, AI, and Customer Success — to align architecture with business objectives.
- **Drive engineering excellence** through code quality standards, design reviews, automation, and CI/CD best practices.
- **Be a mentor and multiplier,** guiding software engineers through architecture decisions, trade-offs, and delivery.
- **Partner with leadership** to align engineering strategy with product objectives and technical roadmap.
**What We’re Looking For**
- 8+ years in software engineering with cloud-native architecture experience.
- Proven record of **driving technical projects end-to-end** , coordinating across teams and stakeholders.
- Strong hands-on background in **microservices architecture** , distributed systems, and API-driven design.
- Expertise in **Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD pipelines** in a cloud environment (Azure preferred).
- Familiarity with modern databases, gRPC, message queues, and DevOps automation.
- Strong problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills — comfortable leading discussions from code to business impact.
- (Bonus) Understanding or interest in cybersecurity, AI-driven systems, or threat intelligence.
**Our Culture**
- **Ownership & Leadership:** Engineers make decisions and own outcomes.
- **Mentorship & Growth:** Learn from industry leaders and experiment with the frontier of AI and cybersecurity.
- **Collaboration & Inclusion:** We value diverse perspectives that challenge the status quo and fuel innovation.
- **Impact Mindset: Every line of code contributes to shaping the future of enterprise security.******
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