Engineering Manager, Kubernetes Platform (LKS)

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU. If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us. *Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco, San Jose, or Bellevue office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday. About the Role Lambda Kubernetes Service (LKS) is an API-first Kubernetes platform for AI training and inference on Lambda infrastructure. We’re looking for an Engineering Manager to lead the team building its customer-facing platform capabilities: cluster runtime, system components, managed add-ons, and AI workload orchestration. You’ll lead the engineering team and partner with the Hosted Control Plane team and Lambda’s Compute, Networking, Storage, IAM, Security, and Product teams. The goal is a reliable, extensible Kubernetes experience from a functional vanilla cluster to vetted capabilities such as GPU and network operators, and orchestration options such as Slurm through Slinky. What You’ll Do - Build and lead the engineering team; hire strong engineers, develop technical leaders, and set a high bar for ownership and quality. - Define the technical strategy and roadmap for LKS platform capabilities and Kubernetes runtime. - Deliver a reliable baseline cluster experience using upstream, CNCF-conformant Kubernetes. - Own the integration and lifecycle of managed add-ons, including qualification, compatibility, releases, and customer choice. - Build Kubernetes capabilities for AI workloads, starting with Slurm through Slinky and evaluating options such as Volcano and LLMD as needs grow. - Partner with the Hosted Control Plane team on cluster lifecycle, upgrades, release readiness, and incident response. - Work across Lambda infrastructure and product teams to deliver secure, supportable integrations. - Communicate progress, risks, and customer impact clearly to leadership and partner teams. You - Have 9+ years of software engineering experience, including 3+ years leading engineering teams. - Have built or operated Kubernetes platforms, managed Kubernetes services, or container infrastructure. - Bring strong technical judgment across Kubernetes, platform APIs, operators, and cluster lifecycle. - Can guide tradeoffs across extensibility, compatibility, security, reliability, and customer experience. - Build strong teams and work effectively across engineering, product, and infrastructure organizations. - Communicate clearly and turn ambiguous needs into pragmatic plans and results. - Hold a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or a related field, or have equivalent practical experience. Nice to Have - Experience with GPU operators, AI infrastructure, or GPU-aware Kubernetes. - Experience with Slurm, Slinky, Volcano, LLMD, Kueue, Ray, or similar orchestration systems. - Experience with Kubernetes networking, storage, upgrades, or managed add-on catalogs. Salary Range Information The annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description. About Lambda - Founded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fast - Our investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent Cove - We have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOG - Our values are publicly available: https://lambda.ai/careers - We offer generous cash & equity compensation - Health, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents - Wellness and commuter stipends for select roles - 401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees) - Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually use Equal Opportunity Employer Lambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.