Staff Software Backend Engineer

NetBox Labs seeks a Staff Software Backend Engineer to technically lead their Foundations team. Foundations is the platform team responsible for building shared platform primitives that other engineering teams depend on, including core services for authentication, access control, customer secrets management, and customer telemetry. This role will own the technical direction for Foundations, partnering with the Foundations Engineering Manager (who oversees people and process) while focusing on architecture and technical execution.

Responsibilities:

• Own the architecture of the Platform Authorization Service (PAS), the system that controls access across the platform.

• Set the technical direction for identity, single sign-on (SSO), access control, and secrets management services.

• Lead delivery of Foundations core services, including login, authorization, and tenancy.

• Act as the primary technical decision-maker for Foundations.

• Lead and mentor the Foundations engineering team through daily technical work.

• Partner with the Foundations Engineering Manager and Product Manager on team execution.

• Drive core components through to GA (general availability) launch.

• Define API contracts for platform services that other teams, including Delivery Platform and Application teams, consume.

• Work with the Foundations Product Manager to align technical plans with product priorities.

• Set engineering standards for code review, testing, and documentation across the team.

Requirements:

• 7+ years of software development experience, including technical ownership of a platform or infrastructure area.

• 3+ years of experience in a B2B software startup or high-growth organization.

• Direct experience with authentication and authorization systems (e.g., OAuth, SSO, or role-based access control).

• Experience leading engineering work without formal manager authority.

• Backend programming experience in Python and Go.

• Experience designing APIs consumed by other engineering teams.

• Strong Linux and distributed systems fundamentals.

• A track record of making technical decisions under ambiguity.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration.

• Experience with network management or infrastructure software (e.g., NetBox).

• Open-source contributions or project involvement.

• Comfort with AI-enhanced tooling (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT, Cursor).