Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block.

As a Senior Staff Site Reliability Engineer at Block, you will be a key player in maintaining and improving the reliability of our systems. Your primary focus will be on designing, building, and maintaining scalable, reliable infrastructure and services. You will work closely with development and operations teams to ensure high availability, performance, and capacity of our services. As an early hire of this newly formed team, you will have a significant role in building the foundation that will keep Block's infrastructure reliable for years to come.

You Will:

• Develop and implement strategies for improving system reliability and performance.
• Design, build, and maintain scalable and reliable infrastructure using AWS and Kubernetes.
• Troubleshoot and debug complex issues in a distributed environment.
• Collaborate with development teams to promote best practices for reliability, scalability, and performance.
• Conduct root cause analysis of incidents and implement preventive measures.
• Monitor system performance and capacity, proactively identifying and addressing potential issues.
• Mentor and provide guidance to junior SREs and other team members.
• Participate in on-call rotations to provide 24/7 support for critical systems.
• Continuously improve processes and tools to enhance system reliability and operational efficiency.

You Have:

• 12+ years of experience in site reliability engineering or a related field.
• Extensive experience with AWS, including services such as EC2, S3, RDS, and Lambda.
• Strong expertise in Kubernetes and container orchestration.
• Proven experience in designing, building, and maintaining highly available and scalable systems.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills, with a focus on root cause analysis.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Go, or Java.
• Experience with infrastructure as code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Solid understanding of monitoring and observability tools, such as Datadog.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to mentor and lead junior team members.

Preferred:

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and tools such as Jenkins, GitLab, or BuildKite.
• Knowledge of security best practices and tools.
• Experience with database management and optimization.
• Familiarity with service mesh architectures, such as Istio or Linkerd.
• Understanding of networking concepts and protocols.

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $290,000 - USD $435,000
Zone B: USD $290,000 - USD $435,000
Zone C: USD $290,000 - USD $435,000
Zone D: USD $290,000 - USD $435,000                 

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information. 

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match 
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance 
• Paid parental and caregiving leave
• Paid time off (including 12 paid holidays)
• Paid sick leave (1 hour per 26 hours worked (max 80 hours per calendar year to the extent legally permissible) for non-exempt employees and covered by our Flexible Time Off policy for exempt employees) 
• Learning and Development resources
• Paid Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits 

These benefits are further detailed in Block's policies. This role is also eligible to participate in Block's equity plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies, and may be eligible for a sign-on bonus. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

US and Canada EEOC Statement

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, and always assess candidates on an individualized basis.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

While there is no specific deadline to apply for this role, on average, U.S. open roles are posted for 70 days before being filled by a successful candidate.