Senior DevOps Engineer, Ephemeral Platform

At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence. As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers.

We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. Whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.

About the role

The EPA & Quality team builds and operates the infrastructure, tooling, and developer platforms that support software development across the company. The team focuses on creating reliable, scalable, and easy-to-use solutions that help engineers build, test, and validate software efficiently while maintaining high standards for security, performance, and operational excellence.

As a Senior Software Engineer, DevOps at Upstart, you will help evolve our Ephemeral Infrastructure platform: the Kubernetes-based environments, cloud infrastructure, automation, and developer tooling that enable engineers to rapidly develop and validate software. You will own meaningful technical areas across platform engineering, infrastructure automation, and developer experience while helping improve reliability, scalability, and engineering productivity across Upstart.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate Kubernetes-based ephemeral environments that enable engineers to develop, test, and validate software efficiently.
• Improve the reliability, scalability, performance, and usability of the Ephemeral Infrastructure platform through automation and platform enhancements.
• Partner with product engineering, platform, security, and reliability teams to integrate infrastructure capabilities and improve developer workflows.
• Build infrastructure automation, tooling, and self-service capabilities that reduce operational toil and accelerate software delivery.
• Enhance observability, incident response, and operational practices to improve platform health and engineer productivity.
• Contribute to the long-term architecture and technical direction of Upstart’s developer platform and cloud infrastructure ecosystem.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) and 4+ years of software engineering experience.
• 4+ years of experience designing, deploying, and operating production Kubernetes environments.
• Experience building and operating cloud infrastructure on AWS, including services such as EKS, EC2, IAM, and networking components.
• Experience with Kubernetes operators, controllers, and cloud-native platform architecture.
• Experience developing software and automation using Go or a comparable programming language.
• Experience implementing infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and automated operational workflows in production environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator/Architect (CKA/CKAD) or equivalent certification.
• Experience with Terraform, Helm, GitOps practices, and tools such as ArgoCD.
• Experience operating distributed systems with a focus on observability, reliability, and incident response.
• Ability to influence platform adoption and collaborate effectively across multiple engineering teams.
• Experience building internal developer platforms, ephemeral environment solutions, or developer productivity tooling.

Schedule

The team operates on the East/West coast time zones. As a digital-first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. Most employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to spend high-quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

Pay

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

• United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range: $166,900 - $230,900 USD
• Canada | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range: $153,000 - $190,000 CAD

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly.
• Retirement benefits: 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada).
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only).
• Comprehensive health coverage for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources.
• Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only).
• Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage.
• Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements.
• Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country).
• Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources.
• Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US only).
• Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development.
• Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work.
• Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs).
• Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!).

For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.