Staff / Sr. Staff Kubernetes Platform Engineer, Infrastructure (GroqMetal)

The posting, as Groq wrote it

About Groq
Inference is the engine that powers AI, and Groq was built from the silicon up to deliver the world's fastest inference at scale. We pioneered the LPU—the first processor designed specifically for AI inference—and are transforming that innovation into a global cloud platform powering production AI workloads.

With the capital, infrastructure, and team to execute, we're uniquely positioned to define the next era of AI infrastructure. The opportunity is massive, and it's still wide open. Now let's go build it!

Mission

GroqMetal is building the infrastructure platform that turns large-scale physical compute into a reliable, isolated, customer-consumable AI infrastructure. This is a hands-on Senior Staff role: you will write production software as part of a software engineering team. You will lead the design of a Kubernetes-based software platform focused on large-scale AI training and inference workloads. You will be a key technical leader in building the systems that turn cutting-edge physical infrastructure into a stable product.

Location: This role will be based in one of our three hiring hubs: the Dallas, San Francisco, or New York City area. The person hired for this role must be based in one of these three areas. You’ll have the flexibility to work remotely while we establish our local Groq office, with the expectation that this role will transition to onsite once the office opens.

Responsibilities & opportunities in this role

• Design and build core Groq platform systems: APIs, controllers, operators, reconciliation loops, and infrastructure abstractions.
• Remain deeply hands-on: Write, review, test, debug, and operate substantial production code while providing Senior Staff technical leadership.
• Embrace the market: Leverage Kubernetes to build a commercial product for AI infrastructure, delivering production-grade Kubernetes services for dedicated customers running large-scale AI training and inference workloads.
• Build a system, not just deploy technology: Apply distributed-systems principles to partial failure, retries, concurrency, consistency, idempotency, availability, and recovery.
• Design for stability and robustness: Design stable platform APIs and contracts that decouple the customer experience from changes in backend infrastructure.
• Collaborate with a team of experts: Work across infrastructure, inference, networking, infosec, and other teams to turn ambiguous platform needs into production systems.

Ideal candidates have/are

• Experienced software engineers first: Strong experience designing, implementing, testing, shipping, and maintaining production software.
• Deep Kubernetes platform engineering experience: Experience with operators/controllers, CRDs, admission control, node lifecycle, cluster services, and production-grade platform design.
• Strong distributed-systems expertise: Practical experience reasoning about CAP, consensus, leader election, eventual consistency, state reconciliatio

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ied individuals with physical or mental disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application or to participate in the hiring process, please contact us at talent@groq.com . This contact is for accommodation requests only, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

All offers of employment are contingent upon verification of the applicant’s identity and employment authorization in accordance with federal law.

Groq encourages people with criminal record histories to apply for employment, and values diverse experiences, including prior contact with the criminal legal system. To that end, Groq welcomes such applicants in accordance with the California Fair Chance Act, Los Angeles City Fair Chance Act Ordinance, Los Angeles County Fair Chance Act Ordinance, and San Francisco Fair Chance Act Ordinance. Philadelphia applicants can review information pertaining to Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance here: https://www.phila.gov/documents/fair-chance-hiring-law-poster .

As part of our hiring process, Groq may use artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools or automated systems to assist with activities such as reviewing applications, evaluating qualifications, scheduling interviews, analyzing assessment responses, or supporting recruiting operations. These tools are designed to assist—not replace—human decision-making, and hiring decisions are subject to human review. We may process information you provide during the application process, including resumes, application materials, interview responses, assessments, and, where applicable, audio, video, or transcript data. If legally required, we will request consent before using technologies that analyze biometric or video interview data. Candidates may request reasonable accommodations, an alternative evaluation process, additional information regarding the use of AI in the hiring process, or review of certain automated decisions by contacting ta-operations@groq.com.