Shield AI

Staff Engineer, DevOps (4797)

Shield AI • US
PythonC++
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube

Job Description:

Shield AI is building autonomous aircraft that redefine aviation. The Software Integration & Operations (SIO) team builds the pipelines, tools, and systems that make fast, reliable delivery of complex aircraft software possible. 
 
As a DevOps Build Engineer, you will own and maintain the build system for our autonomous aircraft (XBAT/VBAT).  This role is primarily focused on Developer Experience (DevEx) and bringing DevOps best practices to our software engineers to accelerate their development cycles.

What you'll do:

  • 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 their requirements, propose designs, and implement identified 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 both local development and CI workflows. 
  • Use agentic solutions to aid in quickly identifying root cause around build failures and getting the appropriate feedback to a Software Engineer. 
  • Required 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 either 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 - showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions in a fast-paced environment    
  • Proficiency with CICD tools (Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Gitlab).  
  • Cloud Operations experience (Azure, AWS, GCP). 
  • Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible) and monitoring (Grafana, Prometheus).  
  • Background in robotics, autonomy, or aerospace systems.