Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience
Minimum 3 years building ML infrastructure (compute and storage)
Strong software engineering skills in Go
Experience shipping Kubernetes operators or controllers to production
Proficiency in multi-cloud environments, preferably AWS and GCP
Responsibilities
Own the control plane for user interactions (API, web UI, CLI)
Develop Kubernetes-native platform software for tenancy, storage, and job lifecycle management
Provide telemetry data for capacity and utilization insights
Implement CI/CD, automated testing, and quality standards for all deliverables
Ensure security and compliance of developed systems
Work with AWS and GCP services to enhance platform capabilities
Create and scale toolkits for AI-augmented research across the Institute
Benefits
Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families
Basic life insurance coverage
401k plan enrollment available
Paid time off as outlined in the Benefits Guide
Full Job Description
Software Engineer III - Platform Software - Office of the CTO
We are seeking an independent and motivated Platform Software Engineer in the Office of the CTO to drive the Institute's AI compute platform. Reporting to the Director of AI Infrastructure, you will own the platform as a product: the control plane, operators, and user experience over multi-cloud Kubernetes GPU infrastructure serving scientific AI workloads. You will set and hold the production bar - for your own work and for what partner teams deliver - as the platform's durable owner. Beyond the platform, you will catalyze cutting-edge AI methods across the Institute - exchanging practices and creating toolkits for agentic science and AI-augmented research.
Essential Functions
Own the control plane surface scientists and admins touch daily (API, web UI, and CLI)
Own Kubernetes-native platform software - operators, CRDs, and controllers for tenancy, storage, and job lifecycle across large workloads and interactive compute
Telemetry as a product: provide data for understanding capacity, utilization and improvement opportunities
Ship with production discipline - CI/CD, automated testing, code review, and quality standards - and hold that bar for work delivered by partner and vendor teams
Own security and compliance of what you build
Work across the AWS and GCP services the platform composes (eg EKS, GKE, FSx, S3, and GCS)
Implement experiences for the whole Institute for cutting-edge AI methods - learn emerging practices and build or scale toolkits for agentic science, data access, and AI-augmented research
Collaborate with Allen Institute and vendor teams spanning scientists, engineers, and service
Note: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.
Required Education and Experience
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, or related technical field; or equivalent combination of degree and experience
Minimum of 3 years of experience building ML infrastructure (compute and storage)
Strong software engineering in Go, with Kubernetes operators or controllers shipped to production
Preferred Education and Experience
Proficiency with building applications on Kubernetes
Telemetry fluency with Prometheus, and log pipelines
Cloud expertise, multi-cloud preferred (AWS and GCP)
Experience with testing, CI/CD, and quality standards as habits
Comfort running security reviews of your own systems, including compliance-scoped workloads
Empathy for researchers as users, and for their workflows
Fine motor movements in fingers/hands to operate computers and other office equipment
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
This role is currently able to work both remotely and onsite in a hybrid work environment. We are a Washington State employer, and the primary work location for all Allen Institute employees is 615 Westlake Ave N.; any remote work must be performed in Washington State.
Travel
Attendance and participation in national and international conferences as appropriate
Additional Comments
**Please note, this opportunity does not offerrelocation assistance**
**Please note, this opportunity does not offer work visa sponsorship**
Annualized Salary Range
$146,600 - $183,250 *
* Final salary depends on the required education for the role, experience, level of skills relevant to the role, and work location, where applicable.
Benefits
Employees (and their families) are eligible to enroll in benefits per eligibility rules outlined in the Allen Institute's Benefits Guide. These benefits include medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance. Employees are also eligible to enroll in the Allen Institute's 401k plan. Paid time off is also available as outlined in the Allen Institutes Benefits Guide. Details on the Allen Institute's benefits offering are located at the following link to the Benefits Guide: https://alleninstitute.org/careers/benefits.
About Allen Institute for Brain Science
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a division of the Allen Institute, based in Seattle, Washington, that focuses on bioscience research. Founded in 2003, it is dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works. With the intent of catalyzing brain research in different areas, the Allen Institute provides free data and tools to scientists.
Started with $100 million in seed money from Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen in 2003, the institute tackles projects at the leading edge of science—far-reaching projects at the intersection of biology and technology. The resulting data create free, publicly available resources that fuel discovery for countless researchers. Hongkui Zeng is the director of the institute.
