Senior / Staff Cloud Platform Engineer (ML)

Who We Are:Calico (Calico Life Sciences LLC) is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies and model systems to increase our understanding of the biology that controls human aging. Calico will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. Calico’s highly innovative technology labs, its commitment to curiosity-driven discovery science and, with academic and industry partners, its vibrant drug-development pipeline, together create an inspiring and exciting place to catalyze and enable medical breakthroughs.Position Description:Calico seeks a Senior / Staff Cloud Engineer to lead the execution and operation of our next-generation machine learning (ML) platform. As the technical authority for our Google Cloud Platform (GCP) environment, you will build infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), design secure perimeters, automate identity management, and migrate existing workflows into a unified, compliant infrastructure.If you are passionate about DevSecOps, IaC, and building "paved paths" that empower scientists while enforcing rigorous security, this is the role for you. You will be the critical bridge that allows our ML Systems and Research engineers to train and deploy ML models for frontier BioML research.Please note: No biology or life sciences background is required for this role.Position Responsibilities:You will work with a team of researchers and engineers on Calico’s key strategic cross-functional initiatives through the following responsibilities:Foundational Impact:Deliver our next-generation ML platformLead the consolidation and modernization of our compute environments, and accelerate the whole company's R&D cycleGCP Foundation:Lead the centralization of GCP projects into a unified, compliant landing zoneDesign secure perimeters to protect sensitive biological data, and build automated guardrails using TerraformGKE Cluster Administration:Design, deploy, and maintain robust GKE clusters tailored for distributed ML training and batch processing workloadsTroubleshoot node-level GPU/TPU issues, manage scheduling add-ons, and optimize cluster autoscalingDeveloper Experience & Onboarding:Design intuitive onboarding processes and "paved paths" for scientists to seamlessly onboard onto the new platformFinOps:Manage org-level GPU/TPU compute capacity, implement centralized billing and cost reporting, and build comprehensive monitoring dashboards to track cluster utilization and optimize R&D expenditurePosition Requirements:BS/MS with 7+ years or PhD with 4+ years of relevant software engineering, DevSecOps, or Cloud architecture experienceStrong programming skills in PythonStrong hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) core servicesExperience with Kubernetes cluster administrationExperience with Terraform, building CI/CD pipelines, and containerization (Docker)Must be willing to work onsite at least four days a weekNice to Have:A strong intellectual curiosity for life sciencesExperience managing Kubernetes for HPC or ML workloadsExperience supporting Machine Learning orchestration and queueing frameworks (e.g., Kueue, Ray)Experience reading and debugging ML Python codeExperience implementing compliant cloud architectures (e.g., SOC2, HIPAA, or similar frameworks)Familiarity with GolangStrong communication skills with a proven ability to guide users through migrationThe estimated base salary range for this role is $220,000 - $290,000. Actual pay will be based on a number of factors including experience and qualifications. This position is also eligible for two annual cash bonuses.