Senior Engineer, Platform Infrastructure (R5516)

f7d8749a-72d6-407c-bf98-292ea630c73a; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Bonus

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an L3 Platform Engineer to join its platform engineering team in Washington, DC. You will build and operate the platform that deploys customer environments, writing IaC and improving Kubernetes ecosystems while reducing risk through automation and rigorous testing.

You will pair with teammates, design robust platform capabilities, and document decisions to ensure the system evolves with minimal manual work and enhanced reliability.

Qualifications

• Experience with Kubernetes, Linux and networking fundamentals.
• Proficiency with Git and trunk-based development.
• Experience with GitLab CI and IaC tooling.
• Ability to troubleshoot distributed systems and improve platform reliability.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve the platform that deploys and operates customer environments.
• Develop infrastructure as code using Ansible, Terraform, Helm, Zarf, Big Bang, Packer, and related tooling.
• Improve Kubernetes platforms and the systems around them.
• Build deployment automation that reduces risk and removes manual work.
• Pair with other engineers to design, implement, and troubleshoot platform capabilities.
• Write automated tests for infrastructure and deployment workflows.
• Improve observability, reliability, security, and recoverability.
• Write documentation that explains why something exists—not just how to type commands.
• Leave every part of the system better than you found it.

Tools

Kubernetes

Linux

Networking fundamentals

Git

GitLab CI

Infrastructure as Code

Ansible

Terraform

Helm

Zarf

Containers

PKI and certificate management

Secrets management

Observability

Infrastructure testing

Troubleshooting distributed systems

Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI's technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Why This Role Exists:

We build and operate the platform that our engineers and our customers rely on.

The platform isn't a product that's ever "finished." It's something we improve continuously. Every deployment, outage, bug, and annoying manual task is an opportunity to make the system better.

An L3 Platform Engineer is a fully contributing member of that effort.

This isn't a ticket factory. We expect engineers to think critically, collaborate closely, and continuously improve both the platform and the way we build it.

How We Work:

Our engineering culture is built on Extreme Programming and Continuous Delivery.

That means:

• Pair programming is our default way of developing software.
• We work in small batches.
• We integrate continuously.
• We automate repetitive work.
• We test first whenever practical.
• We optimize for learning and feedback instead of individual velocity.
• The team owns the outcome.

If you're looking for a role where you're handed tickets, disappear for a week, and come back with a pull request, this isn't it.

What You'll Do:

• Build and improve the platform that deploys and operates customer environments.
• Develop infrastructure as code using Ansible, Terraform, Helm, Zarf, Big Bang, Packer, and related tooling.
• Improve Kubernetes platforms and the systems around them.
• Build deployment automation that reduces risk and removes manual work.
• Pair with other engineers to design, implement, and troubleshoot platform capabilities.
• Write automated tests for infrastructure and deployment workflows.
• Improve observability, reliability, security, and recoverability.
• Write documentation that explains why something exists—not just how to type commands.
• Leave every part of the system better than you found it.

What We Expect:

You Build for Change

Software is never finished.

Your goal isn't simply to make today's feature work.

Your goal is to leave the code, infrastructure, and deployment process easier to change tomorrow.

You Prefer Automation

If humans perform the same task repeatedly, the system probably needs improvement.

Manual processes are temporary.

Automation is the destination.

You Think in Small Batches

Large changes hide mistakes.

Small changes expose them.

We value engineers who can decompose large problems into safe, incremental improvements.

You Work as Part of the Team

Platform engineering is a collaborative discipline.

You bring potential solutions to the team, clearly explain your reasoning and tradeoffs, and help the team build a shared understanding of the code or design not merely produce it. You are responsible for understanding, validating, and clearly communicating the work you contribute.

You Improve the System

When something goes wrong, we don't stop at fixing it.

We ask:

• Why did this happen?
• Why wasn't it detected sooner?
• How do we make this impossible or at least unlikely next time?

Incidents should improve the platform.

Technical Expectations:

You should be comfortable working across most of these areas:

• Kubernetes
• Linux
• Networking fundamentals
• Git and trunk-based development
• GitLab CI
• Infrastructure as Code
• Ansible
• Terraform
• Helm
• Zarf
• Containers
• PKI and certificate management
• Secrets management
• Observability
• Infrastructure testing
• Troubleshooting distributed systems

No one is expected to know everything.

We do expect you to learn quickly and become productive in unfamiliar systems.

How Success Is Measured:

Successful L3 engineers consistently help the team:

• Deploy more frequently.
• Deploy more safely.
• Recover from failures faster.
• Remove manual work.
• Reduce operational complexity.
• Improve documentation.
• Increase confidence through testing.
• Deliver changes in small, reversible increments.
• Make the platform easier to operate and easier to evolve.

What We Value:

• Simplicity over cleverness.
• Evidence over opinion.
• Learning over ego.
• Automation over repetition.
• Continuous improvement over perfection.
• Team outcomes over individual heroics.

What Doesn't Fit Here:

• Building knowledge silos.
• Defending "the way we've always done it."
• Optimizing for personal productivity instead of team throughput.
• Big-bang rewrites when incremental change will work.
• Manual work that should be automated.
• Complexity without a clear operational benefit.

$120,000 - $180,000 a year

#LI-LD1

#LC

Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed toequal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.