Principal Engineer, Cloud SRE/DevOps (SD/DC/Remote) (R3138)

About Shield AI     

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company focused on protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its flagship autonomy software, Hivemind, powers aircraft, drones, and other platforms, enabling complex missions with high reliability in contested environments. With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and internationally, Shield AI’s products actively support U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram.   

As a Cloud SRE/DevOps Engineer on the Forge team, you will be responsible for optimizing Forge’s cloud deployments and owning the processes that enable customers to deploy their own Forge instances. You will manage Shield AI’s internal Hivemind instances, working closely with the software operations and engineering teams to ensure Forge can scale for simulation, testing, and bursts of use. You will also enable seamless upgrades, canary deployments, and system robustness. Additionally, you’ll serve as the primary point of contact for the customer engagement team, providing expert guidance on deploying Forge in customer environments. 

• Optimize cloud deployments of Forge to ensure scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency. 
• Design and document processes for external customers to deploy Forge instances using the SDK in on-premises or hybrid environments. 
• Manage and maintain internal Hivemind instances, ensuring their ability to handle large-scale simulation and testing workloads. 
• Collaborate with the software operations team to enhance Forge’s ability to scale dynamically, accommodate bursts of use, and support continuous upgrades with minimal disruption. 
• Develop tools and processes for canary deployments, ensuring smooth rollouts of new features and updates. 
• Serve as the primary technical consultant for the customer engagement team, providing expertise on deploying and managing Forge in external environments. 
• Create and maintain detailed, user-friendly documentation and tutorials for deployment processes, catering to both internal teams and external customers. 
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve issues related to Forge deployments, ensuring high availability and performance. 

• Typically requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 14 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 12 years experience; or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience in DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, or cloud infrastructure roles. 
• Expertise in cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP, including deploying and managing scalable, distributed systems. 
• Strong experience with Kubernetes and containerization. 
• Experience creating Helm charts. 
• Solid understanding of infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar. 
• Proficiency in scripting and programming languages such as Python, Golang, or Bash. 
• Demonstrated experience optimizing CI/CD pipelines, implementing canary deployments, or tools like ArgoCD and FluxCD. 
• Familiarity with networking concepts and protocols, as well as system monitoring tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana). 
• Experience deploying and configuring databases such as Postgres.
• Excellent technical writing skills, with a proven ability to create clear, comprehensive documentation and tutorials. 
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. 
• Ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with engineering, operations, and customer-facing teams. 

• Experience with secure software deployments in regulated industries such as aerospace, defense, or finance. 
• Systems software development experience using programming languages like C++, Rust or Golang. 
• Experience building software development kits or productized tools for deploying cloud systems. 
• Knowledge of hybrid and on-premises deployment strategies and challenges. 
• Hands-on experience with database performance optimization and scaling strategies. 
• Familiarity with configuration management tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet. 
• Experience building robust monitoring and alerting systems for mission-critical applications. 
• Background in managing high-throughput simulation or testing environments. 
• Experience optimizing databases

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Total package details for U.S. based positions:

- Regular employee positions: Salary within range listed above + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

- Temporary employee positions: Hourly within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days

of employment)

- Interns/Military Fellows/Part-time not eligible for bonus, benefits or equity

Total package details for International positions which are roles based outside of the United States (where applicable):

- International premium, hardship differential, cost of living differential, living quarters allowance, foreign service transfer

allowance, equity, international benefits, visa assistance, and relocation assistance.

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.