Platform Engineer, Security (Senior/Staff)

Pallet•San Francisco, CA

1d•$195,000 - $265,000•Onsite

About The Position

Pallet is building infrastructure for AI-powered logistics, systems that operate real-world workflows across warehouses, freight, and supply chains. We are looking for engineers to define the foundations: the abstractions, tools, and guardrails that make systems reliable, scalable, and easy to change. You will partner closely with a team that has built and scaled systems at companies like Google, Ramp, Scale AI, DoorDash, and Rippling to define how AI-native infrastructure should work from first principles. Why This Role Is Different This role is as much about how we build as what we build. High agency: we don’t wait for direction, we identify what matters, take ownership, and drive it to completion Leverage over activity: we focus on eliminating entire classes of problems through better systems, not managing them with process or manual effort Build the right defaults: we design systems where reliability, security, and correctness are built in, not bolted on later Pragmatic engineering: every decision is a tradeoff; we value engineers who optimize for simplicity and effectiveness over theoretical perfection Velocity with direction: we move quickly on reversible decisions while staying disciplined about solving the problems that matter Direct collaboration: we work closely with founders and other engineers with minimal layers or overhead

Requirements

6+ years in backend or platform engineering
Strong software engineering fundamentals - this is a coding-heavy role
Experience building systems, abstractions, or internal tools with real leverage
Ability to own projects end-to-end from design to rollout
Comfort working in fast-moving, ambiguous environments
Clear, pragmatic thinking around system design and tradeoffs

Nice To Haves

Infrastructure fundamentals, such as cloud, containers, and networking
Experience improving reliability through design and code, not just operations
Practical security knowledge, such as auth and common vulnerabilities
Experience at early-stage or high-growth startups

Responsibilities

Drive reliability and resilience across systems
Own and evolve observability to make production transparent and debuggable
Diagnose and resolve complex performance and correctness issues
Design and operate multi-region and multi-cloud infrastructure with strong isolation boundaries, failover, and global scalability
Establish security guardrails and primitives that enforce security by default
Develop systems to train, operate, and evaluate world-class AI models/agents
Improve developer velocity without sacrificing safety or correctness
Help define engineering standards and best practices as an early team member
Take ownership of high-impact problems across the stack, including areas beyond those listed above, aligned with your strengths and interests

Benefits

Health, Vision, and Dental benefits
Flexible PTO
Life Insurance and Accidental Insurance
Short-Term Disability Coverage
Generous salary and equity for all staff
401k option; helping you save for the future
Yearly learning and development stipend
Commuter benefits
Uber ride stipend if you ever have to work late in the office
Office home stipend to get you comfy in your space
Daily catered lunches provided by Sharebite (every meal you order, one meal gets donated)
Monthly happy hours
Annual Company Offsites; this year we'll be headed to Palm Springs 🌴