Senior Staff Software Engineer, Core Infrastructure

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer on Core Infrastructure at Robinhood, you own the architectural evolution of three deeply interconnected domains: service mesh and connectivity, compute platform, and infrastructure provisioning. Your decisions will directly shape engineering velocity, operational reliability, and Robinhood's ability to expand to new regions and markets. This is a once-in-a-platform-lifecycle opportunity to redesign the foundation before complexity becomes permanent.

What you'll do

• Own service mesh architecture end-to-end - standardize and evolve Robinhood's Istio and Envoy deployment, eliminate deprecated communication patterns, and build the networking foundation for multi-region operation
• Drive Kubernetes compute platform evolution - define the long-term direction for cluster lifecycle, scheduling strategy, control plane architecture, and multi-region resiliency across Robinhood's entire compute fleet
• Redesign infrastructure provisioning - transform Terraform from a collection of ad-hoc configurations into a scalable, self-service platform capability that enables rapid region provisioning and developer autonomy
• Operate with source-level depth - diagnose and resolve issues at the Kubernetes API machinery, etcd, Envoy xDS, and Terraform provider layer, and contribute upstream where it serves the platform
• Define technical direction across teams - produce architecture proposals, lead design reviews, and drive cross-functional alignment on infrastructure decisions that affect every engineering organization at Robinhood

What you bring

• Deep, hands-on expertise with Kubernetes internals: API server, controller reconciliation, etcd watch propagation, scheduler mechanics, and admission control
• Deep working knowledge of Istio and/or Envoy at the source code level, including the xDS API as a protocol and experience debugging at the control-plane/data-plane boundary
• HTTP/2 and gRPC wire-level knowledge: connection management, flow control, stream multiplexing, and observability
• Terraform at architectural scale: module design patterns, provider internals, remote state management, and multi-region provisioning
• Production Go or Python for infrastructure tooling with strong fundamentals in writing well-structured, tested, operationally sound code
• Proven ability to drive cross-functional architectural change across large or complex engineering organizations, influencing without authority and shipping durable decisions

What we offer

• Base pay of $264,000-$310,000 USD (Zone 1: Menlo Park, CA; New York, NY; Bellevue, WA; Washington, DC; Zone 2: Denver, CO; Westlake, TX; Chicago, IL; Zone 3: Lake Mary, FL; Clearwater, FL; Gainesville, FL) or $234,000-$275,000 CAD (Toronto, ON)
• Bonus opportunities and equity ownership
• Supplemental health insurance, ancillary insurance, and mental health support programs
• Access to leading AI tools and continuous AI skill-building
• Lifestyle wallet: a flexible employer-paid benefits spending account for wellness, childcare, learning, and more
• Paid time off, company holidays, sick time, paid volunteer time off, and parental leave
• Catered meals, events, and comfortable workspaces in our offices
• Monthly commuter stipend

This role is based in the Bellevue, WA office with in-person attendance expected at least 3 days per week.