Control Plane & Orchestration - SSE

Senior Software Engineer, Control Plane & Orchestration @ SimSpace

About the Role
You'll build the orchestration engine at the heart of SimSpace's internet-simulation platform. Every
action — standing up a simulated service, registering a persona, pushing a topology update,
provisioning a SaaS application — flows through the control plane this role owns. Where other
engineers build the simulation layers, you build the system that ties them together: the external
API surface, the event-driven backbone, and the Kubernetes-native deployment and operational
model that keeps a multi-tenant platform reliable.
SimSpace is an AI Proving Ground for cybersecurity — a live-fire cyber range and simulation
platform trusted by allied governments, militaries, and Fortune 50 enterprises. Founded in 2015
by experts from U.S. Cyber Command and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, SimSpace lets organizations
train, test, and validate their defenses (and now their AI tools) in a safe, realistic environment,
with a new platform reaching general availability in August 2026.
Key Responsibilities
Design and build the control-plane API that range-orchestration and scenario systems use
to drive the platform, with strong attention to idempotency and consistent error semantics.
Own the event-driven orchestration layer that coordinates multi-step operations across
network, services, identity, and storage subsystems, ensuring changes propagate correctly
and completely.
Build and maintain the platform's persistent-storage layer — reliable, well-abstracted
primitives across file, object, and container storage.
Own the Kubernetes-native deployment model: operators/controllers for platform lifecycle, a
zero-downtime upgrade and rollout strategy, and the configuration model for integrating new
ranges.
Define and own the platform state model — what is authoritative where, how components
recover from partial failures, and how the platform converges after disruption.
Collaborate with the network-simulation tech lead on the in-range proxy-agent infrastructure
(deployment, connectivity, and the handoff model when an agent loses contact).
Partner with SRE on the operational model — runbooks, incident response, and
observability instrumentation.
Contribute to cross-cutting concerns: configuration management, secrets handling, and
control-plane security posture.

Required Qualifications
Strong bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish across written, virtual, and in-person
interactions.
Strong platform-API design instincts — you've built APIs other engineers depend on and
understand what keeps an API surface reliable and consistent over time.
Solid distributed-systems fundamentals: reasoning clearly about consistency, failure modes,
and convergence where a central control plane coordinates distributed components.
Experience building event-driven or message-driven systems and the tradeoffs across
coordination approaches.
Strong Kubernetes expertise — writing operators or controllers, managing custom
resources, and reasoning about multi-tenant workload isolation.
Experience designing and operating storage systems across paradigms (file, object, block,
or container) and choosing the right abstraction.
Operational rigor — you instrument what you build, write runbooks, and anticipate failure
modes.

Nice to Have
Experience with air-gapped or on-premises Kubernetes deployments.
Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code and GitOps-based workflows.
Our Tech Stack
TypeScript, React, Postgres, Kotlin, Kubernetes, Spring Boot
Location & Work Setup
Remote-first, based in Costa Rica. SimSpace operates remote-first with no designated office;
occasional in-region team gatherings (roughly once every few months) may occur, and any
required travel is reimbursed. You'll collaborate with SimSpace's distributed teams (40+ U.S.
states and Costa Rica), so reliable overlap with U.S. time zones and strong English
communication are expected.
Engagement begins through an Employer of Record (EOR) and is planned to convert to
SimSpace's local Costa Rica entity (anticipated around August–September 2026), at which point
you become a full-time SimSpace employee.
Compensation & Benefits
Base salary. Competitive, level-based for a Senior Software Engineer (level 3) [exact USD
range and payment currency to be confirmed with SimSpace], with annual performance

bonuses tied to company and individual performance, plus eligibility for the corporate bonus
plan.
Equity. Stock options at hire, with annual performance-based grants.
Health & insurance. Company-paid private medical and life insurance premiums;
comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits.
Statutory. 13th-month payment (aguinaldo) per Costa Rican law.
Mental health. Company-paid counseling and coaching for you and your family via Spring
Health.
Parental leave. Paid leave plans.
Referral rewards. $1,500–$3,500 for every qualified referral hire.
Continuous learning. LinkedIn Learning membership.
Connection. Monthly SocialSpace community reimbursements for time with teammates.