Staff Software Engineer

About The Company GitHub is the world's leading AI-powered developer platform, empowering over 150 million developers worldwide and fostering the largest open-source community on the planet. As the backbone of countless applications and services, GitHub provides essential tools and infrastructure that enable developers to collaborate, innovate, and build software efficiently. The company is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, encouraging creativity and innovation across all teams. With a remote-first approach, GitHub offers competitive compensation, extensive learning opportunities, and benefits designed to support employees wherever they are located. The company's mission is to create a space where developers can do their best work, driving technological advancements and societal impact through open-source collaboration and cutting-edge AI integration. About The Role As a Staff Software Engineer within the Traffic Team at GitHub, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the scalability, resiliency, and security of GitHub's core infrastructure. The Traffic Team is responsible for managing every packet entering and leaving GitHub’s edge infrastructure, providing a foundational load balancing platform that supports all of GitHub's services. Your expertise will help design and implement high-performance solutions for complex traffic management challenges, including rate-limiting, routing, and abuse protection. You will work closely with a distributed team of engineers, contributing to the development and maintenance of critical systems that support millions of developers globally. This role offers an exciting opportunity to influence the architecture of large-scale, cloud-native systems and to be at the forefront of internet traffic management and security. Qualifications Required Qualifications: 9+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline, with proven expertise in maintaining and delivering production software using languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.Alternatively, an Associate's Degree in a relevant field with 8+ years of experience, a Bachelor's Degree with 7+ years, a Master's Degree with 5+ years, or a Doctorate with 3+ years of related experience.At least 4+ years of experience supporting large, high-traffic applications within platform or infrastructure domains.Minimum of 4+ years supporting and building cloud-native workloads on platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.At least 2+ years of experience maintaining load balancers, including implementing abuse protection mechanisms against DDoS attacks, load shedding, and related security measures. Preferred Qualifications Experience with open-source load balancers such as HAProxy or similar tools.2+ years of experience programming in Golang.Experience designing or maintaining planetary-scale engineering systems.Proven ability to work effectively within remote, distributed teams.Strong written and verbal communication skills essential for asynchronous collaboration. Responsibilities Lead technical decision-making processes and define architectural strategies for traffic management systems.Design and implement scalable, reliable, and high-performance solutions to complex problems such as rate-limiting and routing.Maintain and enhance the GitHub Load Balancer and other traffic-related systems to ensure optimal performance and security.Develop, review, and maintain code primarily written in Go, Ruby, and Rails, adhering to best practices and standards.Mentor and guide other engineers in technical and architectural decisions, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.Participate in on-call rotations to ensure system stability and respond to incidents promptly.Contribute to team meetings, planning sessions, and cross-functional collaborations to align on project goals and deliverables. Benefits GitHub offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the well-being and growth of its employees. This includes competitive salary packages, flexible work arrangements, and a remote-first work environment that promotes work-life balance. Employees have access to extensive learning and development programs, including technical training, conferences, and mentorship opportunities. GitHub also provides health insurance, paid time off, parental leave, and wellness programs to support physical and mental health. The company fosters a collaborative and inclusive culture, encouraging innovation and diversity. Additionally, employees have opportunities for career advancement and to contribute to impactful projects that influence the global software development landscape. Equal Opportunity GitHub is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We embrace individuals from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences, and we do not discriminate against applicants or employees based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are dedicated to providing accommodations during the interview process and throughout employment to ensure equitable opportunities for all candidates and team members. Our goal is to foster an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their best work.