Staff Software Engineer

About UpGuard

UpGuard revolutionizes security by replacing manual bottlenecks with AI-driven precision. Following a recent US$75 million Series C funding, the company is scaling its infrastructure to handle 100 billion risk signals daily. Their Cyber Risk Posture Management (CRPM) platform integrates security ratings, threat intelligence, and agentic AI to help organizations proactively manage evolving cyber threats.

Role Overview

The Staff Software Engineer will provide technical leadership across Product Engineering, tackling architecture, data, and scaling challenges spanning multiple teams. You will maintain hands-on involvement in coding while collaborating with leadership to guide platform evolution and elevate engineering standards throughout the organization. The role includes participation in one of 11+ Product Engineering squads that feature product managers, designers, and technical leads.

Technical Environment

The technology stack includes React and TypeScript for front-end development, Go-based services, and Postgres databases deployed on Kubernetes via Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Engineers utilize agentic coding tools, such as Claude Code and Cursor, and contribute to an increasing number of LLM-backed features, with opportunities to propose automation improvements across coding, testing, review, deployment, and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Remain actively engaged in coding and feature delivery within a squad to ensure technical directions align with user needs.
• Define and oversee cross-team architectural decisions and technical strategy.
• Lead resolution of complex scaling and data challenges in support of processing 100 billion risk signals daily.
• Promote engineering excellence organization-wide through standards enforcement, code reviews, and mentoring senior engineers.
• Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to influence the product roadmap, focusing on what to build and how.

Essential Qualifications

• At least 8 years of software engineering experience in product-focused, technology companies.
• Strong proficiency in TypeScript and React.
• Expertise in at least one backend language, preferably Go.
• Solid experience working with relational databases, especially Postgres.
• Familiarity and routine use of AI-assisted coding tools along with the ability to critically assess their outputs.
• Ability to balance technical quality with pragmatic business needs.
• A collaborative mindset prioritizing product outcomes and customer success over code perfection.
• Proven history of steering technical direction across multiple teams and gaining consensus.
• Experience handling significant scaling or architectural projects with measurable business impact.
• Comfortable influencing decisions without formal authority and partnering with leadership to define product priorities.

Preferred Skills

• Background in cybersecurity.
• Experience operating services on Kubernetes, ideally hosted on Google Cloud Platform.
• Expertise in data engineering or developing high-throughput systems such as scanning or crawling platforms.
• Familiarity with evolving architectures and cultures while scaling organizations from monolith to service-oriented models.
• Track record of building complex applications collaboratively from the ground up.

Benefits and Perks

• Monthly lifestyle subsidy to support financial, physical, and mental wellness.
• Work-from-home setup allowance provided within the first three months.
• Annual learning and development budget of $1500 USD for career advancement.
• Standard paid time off plus two extra leave days dedicated to wellbeing.
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave available to all parenting roles.
• Personal leave covering sick and carer’s leave.
• Fully remote work environment without compulsory office attendance, despite having offices in Sydney and Hobart.
• Provision of high-end hardware required for the role.
• Subscriptions to generative AI tools sponsored to enhance work productivity.
• Stock options to share in the company's growth and success.

Additional Information

UpGuard has been certified as a Great Place to Work® across multiple countries, reflecting strong team member satisfaction. The company practices equal employment opportunity regardless of race, gender identity, age, or disability. Prior to employment, candidates must pass a national police check and provide references. Note that some roles are location-specific depending on the hiring region.