Sustainability Engineer, PyPI

Overview

This role will be focused on building features in Warehouse, PyPI's codebase. The goal is straightforward: make PyPI financially sustainable so it doesn't depend entirely on donations and sponsorships. We launched PyPI organization accounts in 2025 as our first revenue stream, so there's already some groundwork laid.

Most of your time goes to shipping features that help sustain PyPI and the PSF. You'll write Python, work with the packaging ecosystem's standards process when new features need upstream changes, and deal with the unglamorous parts: billing integrations, access control edge cases, storage and CDN costs.

The tricky part isn't technical. It's figuring out what PyPI can offer to free users as well as organizations. You'll be part of those decisions, which means understanding what commercial tools offer, what enterprises actually need, and how to generate revenue while keeping the PSF’s mission first. PyPI is free infrastructure that millions of people depend on. We have an opportunity to make it more powerful for organizations, which will help sustain the foundation, as well as free users.

Core Responsibilities

• Build and ship features in Warehouse, PyPI's codebase
• Billing integrations, access control, storage and CDN work
• Write Python, review PRs, ship user-facing changes
• Coordinate with the Infrastructure Engineer on deployment, scaling, and operational concerns
• Collaborate with PSF and PyPI security engineers on security-related features and concerns
• Work closely with the PyPI Support Specialist to address PyPI Organizations, user-reported security concerns and escalate issues appropriately
• Interface with PyPI stakeholders about user and community needs 
• Occasional on-call responsibilities, shared with the Engineering team as it relates to PyPI

Product Work

• Help decide what PyPI offers to free users and organizations
• Research what commercial offerings provide and where PyPI fits
• Talk to enterprise users and translate their needs into features worth building
• Balance revenue goals with PyPI's mission as free infrastructure

Standards & Ecosystem

• Work with the packaging ecosystem's standards process when features need upstream changes
• Coordinate with Packaging Council and other packaging stakeholders

Qualifications

Solid Python experience, comfort with web frameworks, and enough frontend knowledge to ship user-facing features end-to-end. Familiarity with Python packaging and infrastructure concerns like object storage and CDN architecture. Product instincts help since you'll talk to enterprise users and translate their problems into features worth building. Experience working with open source communities is a plus.

Required: Proficiency with Python web frameworks, base understanding of HTML/CSS/JavaScript, software testing.

Details

• Location: Global remote
• Compensation: $75-$210K (Based on experience and local employment package norms.)
• Type: Contract (1 year), with possibility of renewal