Lead DevOps Engineer

STR; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

STR’s Mission Applications Group seeks a DevOps Engineer to lead and maintain infrastructure for deploying software in operational use. You will guide teams to meet quality, reliability, and performance standards while working within Agile processes.

Required is a U.S. citizen with an active security clearance or eligibility, BS in CS or related field, and experience with CI/CD (GitLab), cloud platforms, Kubernetes, and automation tools. Location: San Diego, CA; remote not indicated.

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level degree in computer science or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in DevOps, software infrastructure, or related roles.
• Experience with CI/CD tools and pipeline automation.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) and automated provisioning tools.
• Knowledge of Linux system administration and scripting.

Responsibilities

• Lead software teams to design, develop, and maintain infrastructure for operational deployment.
• Manage relationships with customer environments and ensure high quality, reliability, and performance.
• Collaborate in Agile teams to implement CI/CD pipelines for various environments.
• Support cloud toolsets (AWS, Azure, or GCP) in unclassified environments.
• Configure and maintain multiple CI/CD environments at different classification levels.

Skills

CI/CD pipelines

Cloud platforms

Containerization

Kubernetes management

Linux Python scripting

Effective communication

Education

B.S. in Computer Science or related field

Tools

GitLab

Ansible

Chef

Docker

Podman

EKS/Rancher

Argo CD, Flux, Terraform

Job description

Overview

Information processing and sense‑making systems support national security efforts by delivering reliable, accessible, and sophisticated analytics. STR’s Analytics and Command & Control (AC2) Division develops actionable technology to provide advantages in the information domain. The Mission Applications (MA) Group within AC2 delivers impact through specialized application and deployment of STR technology and focuses on transitioning technology to operational use, including product management, UX product implementation, software integration and mission engineering, platform engineering, DevOps, and program management.

Responsibilities

• As a DevOps Engineer in the Mission Applications Group, lead software teams to design, develop, and maintain infrastructure and tooling to deploy software in operational use.
• Manage relationships with customer environments while guiding engineering teams to meet high standards of quality, reliability, and performance.
• Collaborate in tightly knit Agile software teams to design and implement Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for various deployment environments.
• Support cloud toolsets (e.g., AWS) in unclassified environments.
• Configure and maintain multiple CI/CD environments at different classification levels, focusing on developer productivity, application performance, security monitoring, and alerting.
• Liaise with corporate IT to ensure infrastructure toolsets are configured, reliable, and in compliance with DoD standards.
• Coach team members on DevOps best practices while continuously helping improve processes.

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Active U.S. Security Clearance with SCI eligibility.
• B.S. in Computer Science or related field with at least 5 years of work experience.
• Experience with CI/CD tools (GitLab) and pipeline automation.
• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) and automated provisioning tools (Ansible or Chef).
• Containerization technologies (Docker, Podman).
• Kubernetes management solutions (e.g., EKS, Rancher).
• Experience deploying and monitoring Kubernetes clusters and pod configurations.
• Basic knowledge of Linux system administration; Python and Linux shell scripting.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity fundamentals; organized, detail-oriented, and able to work independently or collaboratively.
• Effective communication with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Located in or willing to relocate to San Diego, CA; Denver, CO; Arlington, VA; or Boston, MA.

Even Better

• Active Top Secret clearance.
• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• Experience with full web-service stack, including databases, logging, and monitoring; Jira project tracking.
• Designing, deploying, and monitoring Kubernetes clusters.
• Deploying and configuring static and dynamic code analysis tools (e.g., SonarQube, Coverity).
• Platforms such as Argo CD, Flux, or Terraform; leading teams in an Agile/SCRUM process.
• Current Security+ certification.

Pay Information

Full-Time Salary Range: $175,000 - $240,000

Note: Salary ranges are based on external market data and may vary by experience, education, training, security clearances, and market conditions.