(Senior) Software Engineer, Infrastructure (Kubernetes Platform) at pony.ai

Fremont, California, United States

pony.ai Logo
Not SpecifiedCompensation
Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Autonomous Driving, Autonomous MobilityIndustries

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
  • 3+ years of hands-on experience managing Kubernetes clusters in production (EKS/GKE/AKS and/or bare-metal)
  • Strong Linux systems background and distributed systems fundamentals (scheduling, reliability, scaling)
  • Proven experience with hybrid cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure, and on-prem)
  • Expertise in containerization (Docker) and Infrastructure-as-Code tools (Terraform, Helm, Ansible, or similar)
  • Experience developing and maintaining Kubernetes platform features (operators, CRDs, APIs)
  • Solid knowledge of Kubernetes networking (CNI, ingress, service discovery), storage, and compute integrations
  • Strong understanding of security best practices (RBAC, network policies, secrets)
  • Effective communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment
  • Preferred Experience
  • Programming skills in Go and/or Python for operator development, platform automation, and tooling
  • Experience with observability and SRE practices (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Datadog; SLOs, incident response, postmortems)
  • Familiarity with workloads common to AI/ML systems (training, inference)

Responsibilities

  • Design, operate, and optimize Kubernetes clusters across hybrid cloud environments (public cloud and on-prem datacenter)
  • Support diverse workloads including large-scale model training and low-latency inference services
  • Develop, maintain, and extend Kubernetes platform features (operators, CRDs, APIs) to automate and productize internal use cases
  • Own cluster lifecycle management including upgrades, patching, configuration, and governance
  • Define and enforce best practices for service deployments, security policies, and operational guidelines
  • Contribute to observability and SRE practices to ensure reliability at scale (SLOs, incident reviews, metrics-driven improvements)
  • Collaborate with storage, compute, and networking teams (CNI, ingress, service discovery) to enhance automation, availability, and performance
  • Provide technical mentorship, documentation, and on-call support for cluster-related incidents

Skills

Kubernetes
Operators
CRDs
APIs
Hybrid Cloud
Public Cloud
On-Prem Datacenter
Cluster Lifecycle Management
SRE
SLOs
CNI
Ingress
Service Discovery
Observability

pony.ai

Develops autonomous driving technology solutions

About pony.ai

Pony.ai develops technology for autonomous driving, focusing on creating systems that can operate vehicles without human intervention. Their main product, the "virtual driver," is tested extensively in various driving conditions to ensure reliability. This technology is utilized in three main areas: Robotaxi services for passengers, Robotruck services for logistics and freight, and Personally Owned Vehicles for individual users. Unlike many competitors, Pony.ai tailors its solutions to meet the needs of different customer segments, including everyday travelers and commercial logistics companies. The company's goal is to advance autonomous mobility, making it accessible and efficient for everyone.

Fremont, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2016Year Founded
$718.8MTotal Funding
IPOCompany Stage
Robotics & Automation, Automotive & TransportationIndustries
501-1,000Employees

Benefits

Health Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Life Insurance
Paid Vacation
Parental Leave
Disability Insurance

Risks

Competition from Baidu in Hong Kong may impact Pony.ai's market share.
Regulatory changes in China could challenge Pony.ai's compliance and operations.
Tesla's expansion into China poses a competitive threat to Pony.ai.

Differentiation

Pony.ai's 'virtual driver' technology is a leader in autonomous driving innovation.
The company operates across Robotaxi, Robotruck, and Personally Owned Vehicles units.
Pony.ai collaborates with automotive manufacturers for seamless technology integration.

Upsides

Pony.ai plans to expand its robotaxi fleet to over 1,000 by 2025.
The company is introducing driverless services at Hong Kong International Airport.
Pony.ai received over $223 million in strategic investments in November 2024.

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