Staff Engineer (CC)

As a Principal Engineer at Opaque Systems, you will play a critical role in shaping the architecture and driving the technical direction of the core OPAQUE platform, with a focus on the confidential computing infrastructure. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and scale solutions for confidential AI. This is an opportunity to solve complex technical challenges while making a significant impact on the development of next-generation technologies.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of core software components for Opaque’s confidential computing platform
• Design, implement, and maintain end-to-end attestation services and infrastructure
• Lead integration of TEE technologies (CNCF CoCo, hyperscaler CC offerings) with OPAQUE's platform
• Design and operate multi-cloud CC deployments at the Kubernetes platform layer — runtime classes, TEE node pools, custom admission controllers, and service mesh security for confidential workloads
• Define and enforce cryptographic standards: key derivation, signing schemes, secure channel establishment, and secrets management within TEE boundaries
• Drive code quality and security review standards across the security engineering team — review at the correctness and side-channel level, not just design
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and AI teams to deliver scalable, high-performance, and secure solutions.
• Drive technical excellence across the engineering team, setting best practices for coding, architecture, testing, and deployment.
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical innovation.
• Work closely with stakeholders to define technical requirements and ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Optimize system performance, scalability, and fault tolerance while ensuring the security and privacy of data in all phases of computation.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and advancements in confidential AI and confidential computing
• Act as a key decision-maker in technical strategies, contributing to both tactical and strategic goals.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with a focus on distributed systems, cloud computing, or security.
• Deep hands-on experience in confidential computing / TEE technologies (e.g., CNCF CoCo)
• Fluency in attestation protocols: attestation quote generation and verification, RATS (RFC 9334), EAT/EAR standards
• Systems programming at production scale in Go and/or Rust; kernel modules, ioctl interfaces, or TEE SDK integration code a strong plus
• Cloud-native platform depth — Kubernetes operators, custom admission controllers, runtime classes, and TEE workload orchestration across multiple clouds
• Cryptographic engineering fundamentals: key hierarchies, AEAD schemes, digital signatures, and the ability to reason about threat models at the hardware boundary
• Expertise in system architecture and design, with a strong understanding of scalability, fault tolerance, and performance optimization.
• Proven track record of delivering large-scale, high-performance, and secure software systems.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
• Bonus: Track record of open-source contribution or standards engagement: CNCF CoCo, Project Oak, IETF RATS, or equivalent