Devops Engineer Software

Frontdoor Defense; Burlingame, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 132,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona is seeking a Build & Release Software Engineer in Burlingame to own our build systems, CI/CD infrastructure, and release tooling for satellite software.

You will design and optimize cross-platform build pipelines, manage toolchains, and ensure reproducible builds across sim and hardware environments, collaborating with C++ engineers to improve reliability.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of Build & Release Engineering, Developer Infrastructure, or DevOps supporting complex C++ codebases.

Responsibilities

• Design, maintain, and optimize cross-platform build systems using tools such as CMake and Bazel.

Skills

C++ build systems

Linux command-line

Bash scripting

Dependency management

Cross-platform development

Tools

CMake

GNU Make/Ninja

GCC/Clang toolchains

Docker

QEMU

Bazel

GitLab CI

Yocto/Buildroot

Job description

Software Engineer - Build & Release

Own and improve build and release pipelines for Xona's satellite software.

Location: Burlingame, California

Compensation: $132,000 - 178,000 USD / year

About The Role

Build & Release Software Engineer

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth. With Pulsar – the world's most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

We are looking for a Build & Release Software Engineer to own our build systems, CI/CD infrastructure, and release tooling for the software powering Xona's satellite systems. You'll improve developer productivity while ensuring reliable, repeatable builds and releases across both simulation and hardware-integrated environments.

What You'll Do

• Design, maintain, and optimize cross-platform build systems using tools such as CMake and Bazel.
• Manage and upgrade compiler toolchains (GCC, Clang, etc.) while handling complex dependency graphs, third-party libraries, and internal package management.
• Own and improve CI/CD workflows supporting large-scale C++ applications.
• Diagnose and optimize compilation and linking bottlenecks through caching, parallelization, and distributed build strategies.
• Ensure seamless cross-compilation across multiple architectures, including x86 and ARM.
• Support testing in containerized and emulated environments using technologies such as Docker and QEMU.
• Write robust tooling and automation scripts in Python and Bash for environment provisioning, static analysis, and artifact generation.
• Partner closely with C++ software engineers to improve modular architecture, dependency management, and overall build reliability.
• Ensure reproducible build and release environments across local development, CI, and hardware-integrated systems.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in Build & Release Engineering, Developer Infrastructure, or DevOps supporting complex C++ codebases.
• Advanced proficiency with CMake and GNU Make/Ninja.
• Strong Linux command-line and Bash scripting skills.
• Strong understanding of the C++ build, compilation, and linking lifecycle.
• Familiarity with modern C++ standards (C++17/20/23).
• Experience managing complex dependency graphs and modular build targets.
• Hands-on experience with containerization platforms such as Docker or Podman for build environment provisioning, dependency isolation, and reproducible CI/CD workflows.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience developing or supporting Embedded Linux systems using Yocto, Buildroot, or similar tools.
• Experience with hardware emulation tools such as QEMU.
• Familiarity with GitLab CI workflows.
• Experience working on embedded, aerospace, robotics, or other hardware-integrated software systems.
• Experience optimizing large-scale build systems using Bazel, remote execution, or similar distributed build technologies.
• Knowledge of linker internals, symbol visibility, and binary analysis tools such as ldd, nm, objdump, and readelf.
• Familiarity with static and dynamic analysis tools such as Clang-Tidy, AddressSanitizer (ASan), and SonarQube.

For U.S. Roles:

To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

For U.K. Roles:

To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).

For Canada Roles:

Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.