Staff DevOps Build Engineer — Autonomous Aircraft Software

Front Door Defense; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineer, DevOps to own and optimize the native C++ build system for our autonomous aircraft software. You will focus on developer experience, accelerate delivery, and reduce build times across local and CI environments.

Collaborate with software engineers to implement robust build pipelines, resolve failures quickly, and establish best practices. This role demands strong scripting, CI/CD expertise, and cloud/container tooling in a fast-paced aerospace software

Qualifications

• BS in CS, CE, EE, or related field with 7+ years industry experience (or MS/PhD with 5+ years).
• Deep CMake/C++ expertise or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of dependency management and proficiency with Conan or CPM.
• Proficiency with containers and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, cloud build clusters).
• Strong scripting skills (Python, Bash).
• Hands-on experience integrating automated testing into CI pipelines.
• Demonstrated success improving developer productivity at scale.
• Demonstrated track record of excellence as a primary contributor on projects in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Be the expert on our native C++ software build process.
• Improve developer velocity by reducing build/test cycle time and eliminating pipeline bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with Software Engineers to understand requirements, propose designs, and implement solutions.
• Partner with developers to resolve build/test failures quickly and set best practices for integration.
• Integrate CI pipelines with HIL and simulation environments for automated validation.
• Implement monitoring, dashboards, and alerts related to build system performance for local and CI workflows.
• Use agentic solutions to identify root cause around build failures and deliver feedback to engineers.

Skills

CMake/C++ expertise

CI/CD

Python

Shell scripting

Build automation

Root-cause analysis

DevEx mindset

Collaboration across teams

Education

BS in CS/CE/EE (7+ years) or MS/PhD (5+ years)

Tools

Conan or CPM

Docker

Kubernetes

Azure DevOps/Jenkins/GitLab

Terraform/Ansible

Grafana/Prometheus

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineer, DevOps to own and optimize the native C++ build system for our autonomous aircraft software. You will focus on developer experience, accelerate delivery, and reduce build times across local and CI environments.

Collaborate with software engineers to implement robust build pipelines, resolve failures quickly, and establish best practices. This role demands strong scripting, CI/CD expertise, and cloud/container tooling in a fast-paced aerospace software