Senior Principal Software Engineer (Go)

Clarity Innovations is a trusted national security partner, dedicated to safeguarding our nation’s interests and delivering innovative solutions that empower the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) to transform data into actionable intelligence, ensuring mission success in an evolving world. Our mission-first software and data engineering platform modernizes data operations, utilizing advanced workflows, CI/CD, and secure DevSecOps practices. We focus on challenges in Information Warfare, Cyber Operations, Operational Security, and Data Structuring, enabling end-to-end solutions that drive operational impact.

We are committed to delivering cutting-edge tools and capabilities that address the most complex national security challenges, empowering our partners to stay ahead of emerging threats and ensuring the success of their critical missions. At Clarity, we are people-focused and set on being a destination employer for top talent, offering an environment where innovation thrives, careers grow, and individuals are valued. Join us as we continue to lead innovation and tackle the most pressing challenges in national security.

Position Summary The position is part of a team of software and platform engineers building a unified, multi-tenant control plane that abstracts away infrastructure differences across AWS, Azure, and on-premises environments. The platform allows application teams to provision secure, isolated Kubernetes clusters and workloads dynamically. The control plane runs Crossplane and Cluster API (CAPI).

As a Senior Principal Software Engineer on this program, you will bridge the gap between cloud infrastructure and custom software engineering. Instead of writing standard application code or static infrastructure-as-code scripts, your primary responsibility is extending the Kubernetes API using Go to build the automation layer that controls the infrastructure. The ideal candidate is highly independent, capable of driving projects from inception to completion with minimal supervision, and has a keen eye for detail.

They should be passionate about innovation, continuously seeking to improve processes and contribute meaningfully to the platform’s evolution. Additionally, the role offers opportunities to make impactful contributions to a widely used system, directly influencing its functionality and reliability. The successful candidate will work in a dynamic environment, collaborating with teams to ensure the platform meets the highest standards of performance and security.

Key Responsibilities

Control Plane Engineering Extensibility Develop Go-Based Crossplane Extensions : Write, test, and maintain custom Go-based Crossplane Composition Functions to replace or augment static YAML compositions with sophisticated runtime logic. API CRD Design : Design, implement, and version Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) that abstract complex infrastructure configurations into intuitive declarative interfaces for application teams. Implement Phased Orchestration Logic : Code advanced sequencing, dependency mapping, and health-validation loops using Crossplane's Usages and Validation APIs to eliminate infrastructure provisioning race conditions.

Upstream Contributions Integrations : Maintain and customize Cluster API (CAPI) providers and Crossplane providers (specifically AWS, Azure, and CAPMOX for Proxmox), contributing patches upstream where applicable. Engineering Excellence Define Operator Standards: Establish best practices for writing custom controllers, managing the Kubernetes Controller Runtime, ensuring efficient queueing, and preventing infinite reconciliation loops. Peer Mentorship: Partner with and mentor "Sysadmin-turned-DevOps" engineers to help them build proficiency in Go, write robust unit/integration tests for operators, and adopt software-first approaches to infrastructure.