Senior Engineer, Build and Ci (r4220)

Shield AI Shield AI · Defense · San Diego, CA · Software Ops

This role is for a Senior Engineer focused on building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and build systems for a deep-tech company developing AI-powered systems. The primary focus is on improving developer iteration time, reliability, and scalability of the build and test infrastructure, rather than direct AI model development.

What you'd actually do

  1. Embed with a product engineering team as their primary Software Operations partner, working closely with engineers to improve how software is built, tested, and delivered.
  2. Design, implement, and continuously improve build pipelines, CI workflows, and supporting tooling with a focus on scalability, reliability, and developer experience.
  3. Apply strong C++ and/or Go software development experience to build and maintain robust build and CI solutions.
  4. Reduce iteration time and friction by improving build performance, test reliability, and CI feedback loops.
  5. Debug and resolve complex build, test, and CI failures using disciplined root-cause analysis.

Skills

Required

  • BS in computer science or related engineering field with 3+ years of professional experience.
  • Experience with configuration management tools (Makefile, CMake, Conan, Bazel, etc.)
  • Strong demonstrated proficiency in continuous integration/delivery (e.g. Github Actions, ADO, TeamCity, etc.).
  • Strong understanding of C++ (or other compiled language), Linux and CMake
  • Strong knowledge of APIs, web services, and identity access management
  • Strong knowledge of containers (e.g. Docker, Podman, etc.).
  • Strong knowledge of scripting languages (Bash, Python, PowerShell).
  • Strong knowledge of Git.
  • Strong system administration in Linux (w/ Windows a bonus).

Nice to have

  • Strong Experience with Conan Package Manager
  • Experience with Rust in a production environment.
  • Experience with Hardware in the Loop build/deploy/test systems
  • Experience owning build infrastructure
  • Experience with NVIDIA® Jetson products

What the JD emphasized

  • solving the root cause of problems efficiently
  • focusing on making changes to increase developer iteration time
  • continuous integration and delivery systems
  • build pipelines, build configuration management
  • improve how software is built, tested, and delivered
  • continuously improve build pipelines, CI workflows, and supporting tooling
  • developer experience
  • Reduce iteration time and friction
  • improving build performance, test reliability, and CI feedback loops
  • Debug and resolve complex build, test, and CI failures
  • disciplined root-cause analysis
  • best practices in build hygiene, CI/CD design, dependency management, and software development workflows that scale across teams and programs
  • design maintainable CI systems and build abstractions
  • production-ready solutions that improve developer productivity without sacrificing velocity or quality