Staff Software Engineer - Kubernetes Operations

As Marqeta’s Staff Software Engineer - Kubernetes Operations, you'll be instrumental in scaling our platform to meet the demands of our rapidly growing business and help architect solutions that power millions of transactions daily.

We work Flexible First. This role can be performed remotely in the United States, only in one of our National locations, which you can review here.

The Impact You’ll Have

• Design, build, and maintain highly available Kubernetes infrastructure at scale
• Lead architecture decisions for container orchestration and cloud-native services
• Mentor engineers on Kubernetes best practices, container security, and cloud infrastructure
• Develop automation tools and improve CI/CD pipelines for containerized applications
• Collaborate with platform and application teams to optimize workload performance
• Drive initiatives to improve system reliability, observability, and disaster recovery
• Participate in on-call rotation and incident response
• Contribute to the technical roadmap and infrastructure strategy

Who You Are

• 8+ years of software engineering experience
• 3+ years of hands-on production experience with Kubernetes
• Strong understanding of container technologies (Docker, containerd)
• Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, Helm, or similar)
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (Go, Python, Java)
• Deep knowledge of networking, security, and distributed systems
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
• Strong communication and collaboration skills

Nice-To-Haves

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS)
• Experience with service mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd)
• Knowledge of observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog)
• Experience in fintech or payments industry
• Contributions to open-source Kubernetes ecosystem

Typical Process

• Application Submission
• Recruiter phone call
• Hiring manager video call
• Virtual “Onsite” consisting of 4-5, 45 - 60 min calls
• Offer!

At this point, we hope you're feeling excited about the role. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. Your skills and passion will stand out—and set you apart—especially if your career has taken some extraordinary twists and turns. We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates, so again, don’t hesitate to apply — we’d love to hear from you.

Compensation and Benefits

We work Flexible First. This role can be performed remotely in the United States, only in one of our National locations, which you can review here.

• National: A baseline tier that applies to most of the geographic territory of the United States.

When determining salaries, we consider several factors including, but not limited to, skills, prior experience, and work location. The new-hire base salary range for this position is:

• National: $174,700 - $218,400

We also believe in recognizing the contributions of our people. That's why we award annual bonuses to eligible employees, rewarding both individual performance and the success of the entire company.

Along with monetary compensation, Marqeta offers

• Multiple health insurance options
• Flexible time off – take what you need
• Retirement savings program with company contribution and after tax contributions
• Equity in a publicly-traded company and an Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Family-forming benefits, fertility support, and up to 20 weeks of Parental Leave
• Free therapy sessions, financial and professional coaching, and legal advice
• Monthly stipend to support our remote work model
• Annual “development dollars” to support our people growth and development
• Through Flex First, the freedom to live and work wherever you and your family thrive

About Marqeta

Marqeta is on a mission to change the way money moves. We’re one of the earliest enablers of embedded finance, a market opportunity sized up in the trillions. Our card issuing platform provides unprecedented flexibility and control for companies to issue cards, authorize transactions, and manage payment operations in real time. Marqeta is powering the most well known brands in the new economy (Block, Cash App, Affirm, Instacart, Doordash, Uber, Walmart, etc). You don’t need to be a Payments expert to join the Marqeta Team, let us help you with that. This is the opportunity of a lifetime to work with innovators around the world and unlock equitable financial access for all.

Marqeta’s Values

– Solve for the Customer: With a deep understanding of our customers' business and empathy for their needs, we deliver products and services that drive their success. Earning and keeping their trust guides everything we do.

– Do What's Right: Knowing businesses and livelihoods depend on us, we pursue solutions that disrupt responsibly and deliver high-quality results that our customers count on. We own our work from start to finish.

– Simplify and Innovate: We approach challenges with curiosity and take smart risks. Innovation comes from finding better, simpler ways to achieve extraordinary outcomes.

– Win as a Team: We succeed together by embracing diverse perspectives and pushing each other to raise the bar. We lead with humility and set aside hierarchy to work as a team.

– Make it Count: We drive forward with focus and agility. With a sense of urgency and purpose, we get the job done, and done right.

Equal Employment Opportunity, Accommodations and Privacy

Marqeta is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), veteran status or uniformed service member status, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, physical or mental disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information (including testing or characteristics) or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

Marqeta endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please submit this form with your specific accommodation request.

Personal data that is provided as part of the application and recruitment process is processed in accordance with the Applicant Privacy Notice. Additional information for California residents can be found here.