Software Lifecycle Specialist

Oklo; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible time off

Equity

401(k)

Health insurance

Flexible work hours

Job summary

Oklo is seeking a Software Lifecycle Specialist in Santa Clara, CA, to enhance their software development lifecycle and ensure compliance with standards. The role involves defining standards, establishing traceability, and supporting audit readiness. Applicants should have a Bachelor's degree and over 5 years of relevant experience, preferably in regulated environments, along with strong communication and documentation skills. Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, and other health benefits while requiring periodic team travel to headquarters.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software development, DevOps, technical program management, software quality, or systems engineering.
• Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments.
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle concepts including requirements traceability, version control, CI/CD, configuration management, validation, and release control.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain software lifecycle standards, templates, and workflows across GitLab and Jira.
• Establish and enforce traceability between requirements, design artifacts, code, testing, and validation activities.
• Support audit readiness by ensuring lifecycle documentation is complete and reproducible.

Skills

Systems thinking

Attention to detail

Proactive mindset

Cross-functional communication

Documentation skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science

Tools

GitLab

Jira

Job description

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for a Software Lifecycle Specialist to join our team.

Position Description

This role will be focused on strengthening our software development lifecycle, ensuring high-quality delivery, and maintaining compliance with internal and regulatory standards. We support a variety of internal “customers” and establish the processes, tooling structures, and governance frameworks that allow engineering teams to execute effectively and transparently. Oklo is a fast-moving startup, and we are actively formalizing lifecycle rigor while preserving engineering velocity. You will have the opportunity to shape how software is scoped, tracked, governed, and released across the company. A nuclear background is not required, but strong systems thinking, attention to detail, a proactive mindset, and a sense of curiosity about the domain are all essential in this role.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain software lifecycle standards, templates, and workflows across GitLab and Jira.
• Establish and enforce traceability between requirements, design artifacts, code, testing, and validation activities.
• Partner with engineers to ensure proper scoping, backlog hygiene, and milestone alignment.
• Define change control and configuration management expectations in collaboration with DevOps/Engineering Infrastructure.
• Support audit readiness by ensuring lifecycle documentation and records are complete and reproducible.
• Define lifecycle standards including Definition of Done expectations and release controls.
• Build reporting and dashboards that provide visibility into lifecycle health, risk, and delivery status.
• Identify gaps in the software lifecycle and improve engineering workflows.
• Translate compliance requirements into practical, implementable engineering workflows.
• Evaluate and recommend tooling improvements that strengthen lifecycle integrity without introducing unnecessary process overhead.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent industry experience.
• 5+ years of experience in software development, DevOps, technical program management, software quality, or systems engineering.
• Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments.
• Strong understanding of software development lifecycle concepts including requirements traceability, version control, CI/CD, configuration management, validation, and release control.
• Experience working with Jira or similar issue tracking systems in a structured, milestone-driven environment.
• Experience documenting processes clearly and unambiguously.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous environments and building structure where none exists.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience supporting NQA-1, ISO 9001, NIST, or similar regulatory or compliance frameworks.
• Experience with GitLab, especially GitLab CI/CD and repository governance controls.
• Experience building dashboards or lifecycle reporting tools.
• Experience supporting engineering organizations with hardware, simulation, or embedded systems.
• Familiarity with CAD or PLM lifecycle controls.
• Experience writing or maintaining work instructions and formal procedures.
• Experience with secure software development lifecycle frameworks such as CSSLP or similar certifications.

Who you are

A startup person: You aren't driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You don't need or expect to have a lot of guidance but you enjoy working in a fast-paced team.

Motivated: You bring an enthusiasm to the team, and imbue a sense of passion that goes beyond clocking in and out.

A team-player: Oklo genuinely is a team. We do incredible things because we work as a team.

An excellent communicator: We need a person who is not only technically competent but also a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: Being creative means that when things fall outside clear scopes or processes or problems arise without clear solutions, you are able to identify it as well as invent ways to solve a problem or fill a need without micromanagement.

Detail-oriented: This focus is a big part of excellence, consistency, and quality. Excellent grammar and spelling matter for both good communication as well as the image of the company that we put forward.

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including attendance at team meetings, off‑sites, and other company events or gatherings. For the first two weeks of onboarding, employees are required to be in person at headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

Oklo offers flexible time off, equity, competitive pay, 401(k), health insurance, FSA, flexible work hours, and other benefits.

This position may involve access to information subject to U.S. export control laws. Only applicants who meet the definition of a U.S. person under applicable laws may be eligible.