Senior Software Engineer

OhioX; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Root is on a mission to unbreak insurance by creating experiences people love at prices they can't believe. We are building a flexible platform for engineers and data scientists to test ideas, deploy them, and iterate quickly while balancing customer experience with risk management.

We are hiring a Senior Software Engineer to own the CI/CD pipelines, deployment tooling, and release systems across Engineering.

Qualifications

• 4+ years as a software engineer with CI/CD, build systems, or release engineering.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex failures across systems you don't fully own.
• Track record of shipping durable solutions independently, not just tickets.
• Ability to independently plan and drive large initiatives from problem definition through delivery.
• Comfort partnering with engineers outside your team to diagnose and fix their problems.
• Excellent written communication skills, especially for documenting systems and decisions.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain CI/CD pipelines and deployment systems used across Engineering.
• Build reusable pipelines, plugins, and automation that other teams can adopt.
• Investigate and resolve failures across build agents, pipelines, and shared tooling, addressing root causes rather than symptoms.
• Improve build and deployment speed without compromising correctness or safety.
• Partner with product engineering teams to understand their delivery challenges and turn them into concrete improvements.
• Use operational metrics to identify bottlenecks and prioritize your own work.
• Coach teammates and help engineers debug build and deployment issues independently.

Skills

CI/CD

Build systems

Release engineering

Troubleshooting

Project planning

Cross-team collaboration

Technical communication

Tools

Buildkite

Ruby

Terraform

AWS

Docker

Job description

Root is on a mission to unbreak insurance by creating experiences people love at prices they can't believe. We believe that investing in world-class technology will facilitate a new class of insurance products, driving a massive positive impact on the hundreds of millions of drivers who carry auto insurance in the US. Root's Engineering team is committed to building a flexible platform on which our product designers and quantitative scientists can quickly test ideas, deploy them into production, and iterate, with the ultimate objective of a delightful customer experience coupled with effective risk management.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join the Build & Deploy team. This team owns the systems that let every engineer at Root build, test, deploy, and operate software with confidence. As a Senior Software Engineer, you'll design and build the CI/CD pipelines, deployment tooling, and release systems that the rest of Engineering depends on, and you'll partner directly with product teams to understand and remove their delivery friction.

Salary Range

$136,500 - $160,000 (Eligible for Competitive Bonus & Equity Offering)

Root is a "work where it works best" company. This means we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US.

How You Will Make an Impact

• Design, build, and maintain the CI/CD pipelines and deployment systems used across Engineering
• Build reusable pipelines, plugins, and automation that other teams can adopt
• Investigate and resolve failures across build agents, pipelines, and shared tooling, addressing root causes rather than symptoms
• Improve build and deployment speed without compromising correctness or safety
• Partner with product engineering teams to understand their delivery challenges and turn them into concrete improvements
• Use operational metrics to identify bottlenecks and prioritize your own work
• Coach teammates and help engineers debug build and deployment issues independently

What You Will Need to Succeed

• 4+ years as a software engineer, with meaningful experience in CI/CD, build systems, or release engineering
• Ability to troubleshoot complex failures across systems you don't fully own
• A track record of shipping durable solutions independently, not just tickets
• A demonstrated ability to independently plan and drive large initiatives from problem definition through delivery.
• Comfort partnering with engineers outside your team to diagnose and fix their problems
• Excellent written communication skills, especially for documenting systems and decisions

Bonus if You Have:

• Experience with Buildkite or a comparable CI/CD platform
• Experience with Ruby, Terraform, AWS, or Docker
• Experience building internal tools or platforms used by other engineers
• Experience with deployment safety, rollback systems, or release orchestration

As part of Root's interview process, we kindly ask that all candidates be on camera for virtual interviews. This helps us create a more personal and engaging experience for both you and our interviewers. Being on camera is a standard requirement for our process and part of how we assess fit and communication style, so we do require it to move forward with any applicant's candidacy. If you have any concerns, feel free to let us know once you are contacted. We’re happy to talk it through.

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Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is the policy of Root to provide reasonable accommodation when requested by a qualified applicant or candidate with a disability, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship for Root. The policy regarding requests for reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact [e-mail].