Staff Software Engineer, NMS

Who we are

Kentik is the network intelligence platform for modern infrastructure teams. Unlike traditional monitoring and observability tools, we demystify complex network operations, enabling organizations to deliver applications and innovation at scale. Built by network experts to make critical insight accessible to every engineer, Kentik is the real-time source of truth that understands every network in context — from data center to cloud to the internet. This single platform unifies and correlates cloud, device, flow, and synthetic data to turn telemetry into action. Market leaders like Akamai, Booking.com, Dropbox, and Zoom rely on Kentik to run, manage, and optimize their networks.

Kentik is looking for an experienced Staff Software Engineer to join our NMS (Network Monitoring System) team. This team is responsible for bringing the deep visibility Kentik is known for into network infrastructure.

Our platform ingests trillions of records and serves hundreds of thousands of queries for our users each day. You will help us build support for the thousands of devices in our customers’ networks: from popular off-the-shelf gear to obscure and baffling devices from the dark corners of the networking Twilight Zone.

We have built a team of world-class engineers, network experts, and technology thought leaders in a remote-friendly culture from day one. While prior experience in a remote environment is not required, we highly value strong collaboration and communication skills, as well as a high level of independence and autonomy.

As a Senior Software Engineer on our NMS team, you will help us build and improve the systems that we use to collect metrics and data from our customers’ devices. Since this is a new role on our team, you will have the opportunity to make it your own and help us define the function as our team grows.

• Build support and map data for a huge variety of network devices
• Perform device support gap analysis for new and prospective customers
• Help us define configuration schemas that make it easier for our engineers and our customers to get their data into the Kentik Platform
• Work with other engineers and teams to improve data collection accuracy and  strategies
• Help us build a culture of ownership by proactively identifying and solving problems
• Collaborate with other software engineers on the NMS team - as well as PM, support, and sales teams

What you'll bring

Studies have shown that some candidates tend to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to apply if you meet most of the criteria - even if you don’t match all of the qualifications, your skills and experience could be valuable in this role!

• 6+ years of experience building and maintaining production SaaS software
• Experience with scripting (we currently use Starlark/Python)
• Familiarity with strongly-typed languages (we use Go) and data service patterns
• A strong desire to learn, grow, and take ownership of fixing hard problems
• A knowledge of networking protocols like SNMP and gNMI is a plus

Our tech stack

• Our core data engine and platform are primarily written in Go
• We use Node.js + Express for application serving, and React as our primary UI framework
• We also use some JS and Python for tooling/scripting
• In addition to our own database, we use Postgres, Kafka, Mysql, and Redis
• Internal and public APIs expose both rest/json and gRPC endpoints
• Haproxy, Envoy for API traffic routing and balancing
• Github for source control, PRs, issues
• Jenkins for automated builds

What we offer

Kentik is a fully remote company that operates globally. We seek professionals that will help us thrive as an organization, and in turn, to broaden and enhance your career. We’re very thorough in the interview process to understand your skills and how they will relate to your successful growth here at Kentik. Our compensation philosophy encompasses a fair program for all in order to attract, engage and retain talented individuals who will drive our business and wow our customers.

The compensation range for this position is: $190,000 – $225,000. This range reflects the low and high end of the U.S. compensation range Kentik reasonably and generally expects to pay the hired candidate in this role. The actual compensation offered may be lower or higher than the stated range depending on various factors, including but not limited to:

• Experience with the skill sets required for success
• Demonstrated competencies and potential 
• A geographic market-based approach

In addition to a great career opportunity, Kentik offers stellar benefits for our employees, which include:

• 100% of premiums are paid by company for health, vision and dental coverage for you and your dependents
• Additionally, an annual Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) of $3,000 for an individual or $4,500 for a family
• Paid family & medical leave 
• Open PTO, a quarterly Wellness Day, and a minimum of 10 paid holidays
• 401(k) retirement account
• Home office reimbursement 
• Stock options

Note: Benefits are as listed for all US full-time employees. For compensation, international applicants will be treated equitably in relation to the laws applicable within the countries in which we operate.

Come work with us

The true meaning of Kentik is visibility. We’re committed to making sure everyone feels empowered to use their voice, has a sense of belonging, and is represented at Kentik. 

We don’t look for individuals who fit the culture, but those who will continue to add to the culture.
We encourage everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in the industry: people of color, LGBTQI+ community, women, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, and people of any age or family status. 

Kentik is committed to creating an inclusive interview process. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to recruiting@kentik.com.

Come as you are!
You will be working at a fast-growing, well-funded startup alongside industry thought leaders and network aficionados as we build the future of observability and set the high bar for how network operations and digital businesses should run. With a competitive salary and amazing benefits on top of the meaningful and challenging projects you’ll take on, we’re sure you’ll enjoy joining the Kentik team.

#li-remote