Staff Software Engineer

HiveWatch

El Segundo (CA)

On-site

USD 180,000 - 245,000

Full time

6 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

HQ on Main Street, El Segundo, CA

401(k) with 4% company match

Comprehensive health coverage

Flexible paid time off

ClassPass credits

Pet insurance discount

Family-friendly culture

Job summary

HiveWatch is seeking a Staff Engineer to own the edge appliance stack, from OS hardening to container runtimes and orchestration, deployed across customer environments.

You’ll lead Platform/DevOps initiatives, improve observability, and raise testing standards while collaborating with a growing engineering team and providing mentorship. On-call rotation is required.

Qualifications

10+ years of software engineering in production environments.
5+ years in senior platform/infrastructure or distributed systems roles.
Deep Linux admin, networking, and OS internals knowledge.
Experience with RHEL/Rocky Linux or equivalent.
Hands-on security hardening and vulnerability management experience.

Responsibilities

Be the go-to expert and technical lead for the edge appliance stack.
Lead Platform/DevOps initiatives including architecture and design.
Own observability for edge appliances with metrics, logging, and tracing.
Raise testing standards for edge software and fleet validation.
Contribute to DevEx, CI/CD, and network/database maintenance.
Evolve development practices with AI-native techniques.
Deliver platform features to customers on AWS via IaC and CI/CD.
Improve resiliency, scalability, and maintainability of environments.
Mentor engineers and participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation.

Skills

Linux systems engineering

Edge/IoT systems

AWS & cloud architecture

Kubernetes & Docker

Infrastructure as Code

Programming: Kotlin, Rust, TS, Python

Security hardening & CIS benchmarks

Observability & debugging

Mentoring engineers

On-call incident response

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Prometheus

Grafana

CloudWatch

Terraform

Terragrunt

Helm

Job description

HiveWatch is a tech-forward, inclusive organization fostering the evolution of the physical security industry. We are a diverse team of forward thinkers who empower each other to find creative and collaborative solutions in an industry ripe for modernization. We are passionate about the problems we’re solving for our customers and equally passionate about the company we’re building.

HiveWatch is here to help security teams pivot from chasing threats to preventing them. We protect organizations, people, and property through the intelligent orchestration of physical security programs. With better communication, more insights, and less “noise”, we are modernizing what it means for businesses and their employees to truly feel safe.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

HiveWatch is seeking a Staff Engineer to join our team and become the technical center of gravity for our HiveWatch Gateway edge appliance - the compute environment that connects our SaaS platform to customer systems at the device level. You'll develop the deepest expertise on this appliance as a full vertical stack: from the operating system and its hardening, up through the container runtime and orchestration layer, and across the observability and testing that keep it reliable in the field. You'll become the team's go-to technical authority on edge systems, setting technical direction and providing leadership across our growing engineering team. This role reports directly to our VP of Engineering.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Become the go-to expert and technical lead for our edge appliance - the Linux operating system, OS hardening and patching, the container runtime, and the orchestration layer - as a single, coherent, production-grade stack deployed across customer environments
Be a technical leader of Platform/DevOps initiatives including systems architecture and design, technical scoping and implementation of Platform features
Own observability for the edge, including metrics, logging, and tracing that provide visibility into appliances operating in customer environments we don't physically control
Raise the testing bar for edge software — from test coverage through the fleet-level validation needed to ship changes to customer sites safely
Contribute to the remaining mission-critical Platform systems alongside the appliance: DevEx, CI/CD, network architecture, and database maintenance
Evolve our software development and delivery practices, adopting AI-native techniques that let us move with speed and integrity
Reliably deliver platform features to our customers on AWS using Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD pipelines, and modern service delivery practices
Increase the resiliency, scalability, and maintainability of our production, test, and development environments
Assist with talent acquisition as we grow our high-performing engineering team
Participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation and own root cause analysis and process improvement for the systems you lead
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to other engineers, fostering our culture of communication, openness, continuous improvement, and engineering excellence

OUR TECH STACK:

Languages: Kotlin, Rust, TypeScript, and Python
Deployments: GitHub Actions, Terraform, Terragrunt, and Helm
Infrastructure: AWS (Kinesis, Serverless, RDS, EKS), Kubernetes, Docker, Postgres, IoT Edge, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Rocky Linux

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

10+ years of software engineering experience with strong coding skills in production environments
5+ years of experience in a senior platform engineering, infrastructure, or distributed systems role
Deep Linux systems engineering expertise including administration, troubleshooting, networking systems, and operating system internals in production environments.
Experience with RHEL, Rocky Linux, or similar enterprise Linux distributions
Hands-on experience securing and hardening Linux systems, along with vulnerability management, including attack surface reduction, access controls, least-privilege configuration, and applying security baselines such as CIS Benchmarks or DISA STIGs
Expertise with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and containerized applications (Docker, Kubernetes)
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar)
Proficiency in at least one language in our tech stack (Kotlin, Rust, TypeScript, Python)
Experience building and operating edge or IoT systems in production environments
Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, or equivalent)
Strong debugging skills across distributed systems and microservices architectures
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Expertise in AWS architecture and services, including Kinesis, Lambda, EKS, and RDS
Experience with Terraform and Terragrunt specifically
Background in high-availability, enterprise SaaS environments with distributed customer deployments
Experience in physical security, IoT, or edge computing environments
Familiarity with hardware-constrained environments (embedded Linux, ARM, or similar)
Track record of building internal developer platforms, SDKs, or deployment tooling
Experience establishing platform engineering practices and culture from the ground up
Experience mentoring and developing senior engineers
Knowledge of security best practices and compliance requirements
Previous experience in a startup or high-growth environment (50–200 employees)

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Salary range for this position: $180,000 - $245,000 per year
Eligible to participate in HiveWatch Equity Incentive Plan
Final offer will be at the company's sole discretion and determined by multiple factors, including years and depth of relevant experience and expertise, location, and other business considerations.

Benefits & Culture:

At HiveWatch, we’re passionate about taking care of our people — and it shows in the benefits we offer. Our team enjoys:

Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
Cutting-edge work in an emerging field with huge growth potential
Competitive compensation packages designed to reward top talent
A modern, newly renovated HQ right on Main Street in El Segundo, CA
401(k) with a 4% company match to help you invest in your future
Flexible paid time off so you can recharge when you need it
Additional benefits include ClassPass credits and a discount on pet insurance
A family-friendly, compassionate culture that values balance and belonging

We encourage you to challenge the status quo, share your perspective, and leave fear at the (access-controlled) door.

Our EEO Statement:

HiveWatch is an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to cultivating a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals. We execute our hiring practices so that they are merit-based and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, marital status, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, national origin, ancestry, military or veteran status, or other protected characteristic.

Benefits & Culture:

At HiveWatch, we’re passionate about taking care of our people — and it shows in the benefits we offer. Our team enjoys: