Staff Engineer - Platform, Engineering

ABOUT TORCH

At Torch, we believe in the power of people. People are the heart of every success story. They collaborate to achieve ambitious things together. And they inspire others to build a better future. 

We believe leadership is about driving change, not just managing it. Our coaching adapts to the organization's needs, empowering leaders to tackle today’s challenges—whether navigating AI, strengthening teams, or inspiring innovation. We focus on creating a lasting impact from day one, preparing organizations for the future.

OUR VALUES

All Torch employees are expected to reflect and enhance our company values. Click here to see a detailed list of our values. 

The future is bright – We are reimagining leadership and leaning into our strengths to bring it to life

Pass the torch – Leadership is about developing others, embracing new ideas, and sharing knowledge

No one succeeds alone – We multiply our efforts by trusting each other and welcoming diverse perspectives

Change is our catalyst – We embrace change, move with speed, and shape it into something great

Lead from the inside out – Self-awareness fuels growth—personally and as leaders

THE TEAM

At Torch, we are looking for a talented Staff Engineer with deep expertise in Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, and developer tooling to join our Platform Team.

As a Staff Engineer, you will be a central player in driving the technical architecture, design, and implementation of our cloud platform & developer tooling, working to ensure that our teams of fully remote engineers and quality engineers (QEs) are happy and well supported with top notch infrastructure and tooling. This is a very hands-on role, requiring strong technical expertise and execution skills to deliver high-quality, scalable solutions.

This role requires an engineer with a leadership mindset and is a key contributor to a culture of innovation, precision, and collaboration. The ideal candidate will bring both technical expertise and a creative problem solving orientation, driving themselves & their teammates to deliver results that align with Torch's overarching goals of growth and customer satisfaction. 

Please note we are only accepting US-based applicants at this time.

YOUR ROLE

• Architect and design scalable infrastructure solutions – and help other engineers be accountable for meeting platform patterns and guidelines.
• Build software tools to deliver a first class developer experience for all members of the engineering department. 
• Hands-on development and implementation of Kubernetes-based cloud infrastructure using autoscaling tools and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Mentoring of high-performing engineers – mentor, and provide technical direction to on and off shore engineers and QEs, furthering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Execution of key initiatives – own and drive high-priority infrastructure automation and developer tooling projects, balancing long-term goals with short-term delivery needs.
• Ensure high-quality code, system scalability and reliability – follow and enhance best practices in code quality, automated testing, and continuous integration, collaborating with other engineers to improve test coverage and efficiency.
• Optimize processes – Work with engineering leads to establish and refine engineering processes, including git workflow, CI/CD pipelines & operational playbooks to enhance productivity, ensure cost efficiency, and reduce bottlenecks.
• Support & troubleshooting – Collaborate with other teams to ensure system reliability, performance, and incident resolution, maintaining robust monitoring and enabling rapid response to production issues.
• Be a technical thought leader – be willing to dive deep into technical challenges, whether it’s reviewing complex code, debugging production issues, or optimizing system performance. 
• Challenge the status-quo and share your expertise with the greater engineering department for a positive impact. 

YOU HAVE

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with a degree in Computer Science or another STEM field.
• 5+ years of experience in a senior engineering role.
• 5+ years of hands-on Kubernetes experience (AWS EKS preferred), including workload scaling, cluster management, and autoscaling solutions (Karpenter, HPA preferred).
• Experience with AWS Lambda, Istio (or similar service mesh technologies) or KEDA is a plus but not required. 
• Mastery of infrastructure-as-code techniques - preferably Helm and AWS CDK. 
• Proficiency with Git and modern CI/CD workflows (GitHub Actions preferred).
• Strong understanding of distributed application design patterns and asynchronous application models for building scalable and resilient systems.
• Knowledge of scaling methodologies, ensuring high-quality, performant systems that are cost optimized.
• Strong security mindset, with an understanding of data protection regulations, authentication, authorization, and secure coding best practices.

INTERVIEW PROCESS - consists of the following

• Pre-screen Interview with recruiter (45min-1hour)
• Technical Interview with the Head of Platform Engineering (45 minutes)
• Show-and-tell session (90 minutes) to assess problem-solving skills, technical proficiency. 
• Leadership/Cultural Fit Interview with the CTO (45 minutes).

TORCH PROVIDES

• Generous Benefits – 401K, health insurance (medical, life and disability insurance, 16 weeks paid parental leave, and your own Torch coach) 
• Impactful Mission-Driven Work – Help empower a new generation of leaders to evolve as fast as the world around them
• A Team Who Walks The Walk – We understand coaching's transformative power firsthand and our internal practices are shaped by the same leadership principles we champion
• Remote-First Culture – Work from anywhere in the U.S., remote workstation stipend, unlimited FlexTime
• Competitive Compensation – Salary range of $160,000 - $200,000, plus equity options

Torch provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.