Senior Software Engineer / Staff SWE Engineer

The Mission
The Infrastructure Tooling team builds internal deployment tools and automation for game development teams and core publishing platform engineers. You will step in as a Staff-level Subject Matter Expert to lead the architectural evolution of internal deployment automation, drive a core Apache Kafka cluster migration, and establish best practices across the platform ecosystem.
This position demands exceptional personal ownership, transparent communication, and fundamental technical mastery. You will operate autonomously, identify infrastructure bottlenecks independently, and build production-grade tooling without relying on unverified AI code generators.

Key Responsibilities

• Publishing Tooling & Automation: Architect, write, and maintain infrastructure deployment tools and automation scripts in Python or Golang for publishing platform engineers.
• Kafka Cluster Migration: Lead the technical planning, data streaming pipeline setup, and execution for a core Apache Kafka cluster migration.
• Cloud & Container Orchestration: Manage AWS infrastructure using Terraform, maintain Kubernetes clusters, author Helm charts, and optimize Docker container environments.
• CI/CD & Operational Observability: Build, maintain, and troubleshoot Jenkins CI/CD automation pipelines while monitoring platform health via Datadog.
• Technical Leadership & Best Practices: Partner directly with publishing stakeholders, identify platform friction points independently, and mentor team members through code reviews and architecture standards.

Hard Requirements (Must-Haves)

• Staff-Level Seniority (SME): Proven experience operating a level above Senior Engineer, acting as a domain expert who identifies infrastructure friction, automates platform tooling, and drives technical standards independently.
• Python or Golang Engineering: Deep production expertise in Python or Golang for building custom infrastructure automation, developer CLIs, and platform deployment tools.
• Cloud Infrastructure (AWS): Hands-on experience architecting and managing cloud infrastructure on AWS (transferable expertise with GCP or Azure is acceptable).
• Containers & Orchestration: Advanced experience with Docker and Kubernetes (cluster management, pod configuration, troubleshooting deployment failures).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Strong ability to read, write, and structure modular infrastructure code using Terraform.
• Apache Kafka Depth: Hands-on experience operating Kafka clusters, managing topic partitions, and executing streaming data migrations.
• CI/CD & Operational Tooling: Experience configuring and maintaining Jenkins build pipelines alongside operational monitoring in Datadog.
• U.S. Pacific Timezone Overlap: Minimum 6 hours daily overlap with U.S. Pacific Standard/Daylight Time.
• High-Integrity Communication & Ownership: Excellent written and spoken English, proactive status reporting, transparent collaboration, and high personal accountability.

Nice-to-Have Requirements

• Machine Learning Platform (MLOps) Infrastructure: Experience building infrastructure tools or deployment pipelines for ML platforms and model serving.
• Game Development / Publishing Platform Context: Background supporting publishing platforms, internal developer enablement teams, or live-service game operations.
• Multi-Cloud Expertise: Direct exposure to multi-cloud environments (AWS alongside GCP or Azure).