Site Reliability Engineer (Network)

Loft Orbital; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 157,000 - 239,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision coverage

401(k) equity

Relocation assistance

HSA/FSA

Paid holidays

Job summary

Loft Orbital is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer with strong networking expertise to own cloud networking, VPN/site-to-site connectivity, segmentation, and routing across offices and ground stations.

You will define SLOs, instrument systems, and manage the network as code with IaC and GitOps to improve reliability and security as Loft scales.

Qualifications

• 4-5 years in network engineering with hands-on networking experience.
• Hands-on Software-Defined Networking and IaC, not appliance-by-appliance.
• Strong public-cloud networking experience, ideally GCP (VPCs, peering, hybrid connectivity).
• Comfortable operating on a Kubernetes platform and occasionally writing code.
• Infrastructure-as-Code and a GitOps workflow with CI/CD.
• An SRE mindset focused on SLOs, observability, and reducing toil through automation.
• Ability to debug connectivity issues in a hybrid network environment.
• Degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Design Loft’s network architecture across cloud, VPN/site-to-site, and ground stations.
• Strengthen network security posture through segmentation, access, and connectivity hardening.
• Manage the network as code with IaC provisioning and GitOps workflows.
• Define SLOs for connectivity and ground-station availability and own observability.
• Investigate reliability issues with root-cause analysis and durable fixes.
• Collaborate across the SRE team to enhance overall reliability and incident response.

Skills

Routing

VPN/site-to-site

Segmentation

DNS

Firewalling

Software-Defined Networking

Public-cloud networking (GCP)

Kubernetes (k8s)

Docker

Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform)

GitOps

SRE fundamentals (SLOs, observability)

Root-cause analysis

Automation

Education

Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Terraform

Kubernetes

Docker

GitOps tooling (ArgoCD, FluxCD)

Job description

Wanna join the adventure?

As a Site Reliability Engineer with strong networking skills in our Cloud Infrastructure (SRE) team, you help the team own the networks that keep Loft running: cloud networking, VPN and site-to-site connectivity, segmentation, and routing across our offices, test equipment, and ground stations. You keep them reliable, observable, and secure as we scale. You coordinate with IT on the network components that interface with the physical infrastructure used by employees. You coordinate with the Test-Infrastructure team to ensure our test equipment is securely accessible. You’ll work the way an SRE team works: defining reliability in measurable terms (SLOs for connectivity and ground-station availability), instrumenting the systems that prove it, managing the network as code, and automating away toil so on-call load doesn’t grow with the fleet. Beyond the network, you’ll help the SRE team across its broader scope by participating in all the daily work just like a regular SRE: platform reliability and expansion, incident response, planning and user support.

About this role:

• Participate in the design and implement Loft’s network architecture; cloud networking, VPN/site-to-site, segmentation, and routing across offices, ground stations, and test equipment


• Tighten the network security posture: segmentation, access, and connectivity hardening


• Manage the network as code: IaC provisioning, CI/CD, and GitOps


• Define SLOs for connectivity and ground-station availability, and own the observability (metrics, logs, tracing) that measures them; Grafana-centric stacks a plus


• Investigate and resolve reliability issues with root-cause analysis and durable fixes; reduce operational toil through automation


• Contribute to the SRE team’s broader reliability and incident-response work, fostering the SatDevOps culture that power Loft’s DNA

Must haves:

• 4-5 years in network engineering, with deep hands-on networking: routing, VPN/site-to-site, segmentation, DNS, firewalling


• Hands-on Software-Defined Networking: comfortable managing networks programmatically / as code rather than appliance-by-appliance (everything we run is IaC)


• Strong public-cloud networking experience, ideally GCP (VPCs, peering, hybrid connectivity)


• Comfortable operating on a Kuburnetes platform (k8s, Docker) and occasionally writing code


• Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform or similar) and a CI/CD-driven, GitOps workflow


• An SRE mindset: SLOs, observability, and reducing toil through automation


• Ability to debug connectivity issues in a complex, hybrid network environment


• Degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

Nice to haves:

• Network certifications (CCNP or similar)


• Hands-on experience with GitOps frameworks (ArgoCD, FluxCD)


• Interest or experience in FinOps and cost-optimized architectures


• Familiarity with security practices: vulnerability scanning, threat detection, risk mitigation


• Understanding of orchestration in resource-constrained environments, like space systems

Some of our awesome benefits:

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents


• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA


• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance


• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays


• 401(k) plan and equity options


• Daily catered lunches and snacks in office


• International exposure to our team in France


• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for birthing parent and 10 weeks for non-birthing parent


• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support


• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations


• Relocation assistance when applicable


• Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple.

Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.

We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.

With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.

As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

State law requires us to tell you the base compensation range for this role, which is $157,000- $239,000 per year. This is determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we evaluate individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.