Staff Engineer, DevOps

Shield AI is building autonomous aircraft that redefine aviation. The Software Integration & Operations (SIO) team builds the pipelines, tools, and systems that make fast, reliable delivery of complex aircraft software possible.

As a DevOps Build Engineer, you will own and maintain the build system for our autonomous aircraft (XBAT/VBAT). This role is primarily focused on Developer Experience (DevEx) and bringing DevOps best practices to our software engineers to accelerate their development cycles.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Being the expert on our native (C++) software build process
• Improving developer velocity by reducing build/test cycle time and eliminating pipeline bottlenecks
• Collaborating with Software Engineers to understand their requirements, propose designs, and implement identified solutions
• Partnering with developers to resolve build/test failures quickly and set best practices for integration
• Integrating CI pipelines with HIL and simulation environments for automated validation
• Implementing monitoring, dashboards, and alerts related to build system performance for both local development and CI workflows
• Using agentic solutions to aid in quickly identifying root cause around build failures and getting the appropriate feedback to a Software Engineer

The ideal candidate will have:

• A BS in CS, CE, EE, or related field with 7+ years industry experience (or MS/PhD with 5+ years)
• Deep CMake/C++ expertise or equivalent
• Strong understanding of dependency management and proficiency with either Conan or CPM
• Proficiency with containers and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, cloud build clusters)
• Strong scripting skills (Python, Bash)
• Hands-on experience integrating automated testing into CI pipelines
• Demonstrated success improving developer productivity at scale
• Demonstrated track record of excellence as a primary contributor on projects - showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions in a fast-paced environment

Additional desired skills include:

• Proficiency with CICD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Gitlab)
• Cloud Operations experience (Azure, AWS, GCP)
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible) and monitoring (Grafana, Prometheus)
• Background in robotics, autonomy, or aerospace systems