Lead DevOps Engineer
The Team:
Information processing and sense-making systems are the lifeblood of national security efforts, facilitating an understanding of the global situation, strategic planning, and tactical execution. The reliability, accessibility, and sophistication of these systems can determine the outcomes of conflicts before they begin. STR’s Analytics and Command & Control (AC2) Division focuses on developing actionable, advanced technology solutions to provide asymmetric advantages within the information domain.
The Mission Applications (MA) Group within the AC2 Division creates outsized mission impact with our customers through specialized application and deployment of STR technology. Staff within the MA group have a deep understanding of missions and technology needs for national security with skills targeting transition of technology to operational use, including product management, UX Product implementation, software integration & mission engineering, platform engineering, DevOps, and program management. MA staff combine with other engineering staff from the various STR research and development groups to form dedicated product teams focused on accelerating the operational transition of cutting-edge software technologies.
The Role:
As a DevOps Engineer in the Mission Applications Group, you will work as a leader of software teams to design, develop, and maintain infrastructure and tooling to deploy software in operational use. You have experience managing relationships with customer environments while simultaneously leading engineering teams to ensure the delivered product meets the highest standards of quality, reliability, and performance. You will work as part of tightly knit Agile software teams to design and implement Continuous Integration/ Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for various unique deployment environments. This role includes:
- Supporting cloud (e.g., AWS) toolsets in unclassified environments
- Configuring and maintaining multiple CI/CD environments at different classification levels, focusing on developer productivity, application performance, security monitoring, and alerting
- Liaising with corporate IT to ensure team infrastructure toolsets are configured, maintained, reliable, and in compliance with Department of Defense standards
- Coaching team members on DevOps best practices while continuously helping to improve processes.
This role will take advantage of STR’s flexible, hybrid environment – when the work does not require use of STR’s facilities, you are welcome to work remotely. You should expect to spend some portion of time every week (2-3 days) in STR’s or US Government facilities. You can expect to support software applications deployed on classified operational networks that can only be accessed at STR or government facilities.
Who You Are:
- Must be a U.S. citizen
- Active US Security Clearance with SCI Eligibility
- BS in Computer Science or related field with at least 5 years of work experience
- Experience with all relevant technologies including:
- CI/CD tools (Gitlab) and pipeline automation
- Cloud platforms (such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud), and automated provisioning tools (such as Ansible or Chef)
- Containerization technologies such as Docker and Podman
- Kubernetes management solutions such as EKS and Rancher
- Experience deploying, and monitoring Kubernetes clusters and pod configurations
- Basic knowledge of Linux System Administration
- Knowledge of Python and Linux Shell
- Knowledge of Cyber Security fundamentals
- Organized, detail-oriented, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively
- Demonstrated experience as an effective communicator to both technical and non-technical audiences
- Located in San Diego, CA, Denver, CO, Arlington, VA, or Boston, MA, or willing to relocate.
Even Better:
- Active Security Clearance at the Top Secret level
- Advanced Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
- Experience in:
- Full web-service stack, including databases, logging, and monitoring
- Project tracking tools such as Jira
- Designing, deploying, and monitoring Kubernetes clusters
- GitOps tools like ArgoCD or Flux
- Deploying and maintaining artifact repositories (such as Nexus, Artifactory)
- Deploying and configuring static and dynamic code analysis tools (such as SonarQube, Coverity).
- Platforms such as ArgoCD, Flux or TerraForm.
- Leading teams in an Agile/SCRUM software development process
- Current Security+ Certification
Pay Information
Full-Time Salary Range: $175,000 - $240,000
The salary range listed is based on external market data. Offers are based on factors, such as but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, training, key skills/critical skills, security clearances, and prevailing market and business conditions.
STR is a growing technology company with locations near Boston, MA, Arlington, VA, near Dayton, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Carlsbad, CA. We specialize in advanced research and development for defense, intelligence, and national security in: cyber; next generation sensors, radar, sonar, communications, and electronic warfare; and artificial intelligence algorithms and analytics to make sense of the complexity that is exploding around us.
STR is committed to creating a collaborative learning environment that supports deep technical understanding and recognizes the contributions and achievements of all team members. Our work is challenging, and we go home at night knowing that we pushed the envelope of technology and made the world safer.
STR is not just any company. Our people, culture, and attitude along with their unique set of skills, experiences, and perspectives put us on a trajectory to change the world. We can't do it alone, though - we need fellow trailblazers. If you are one, join our team and help to keep our society safe! Visit us at www.str.us for more info.
STR is an equal opportunity employer. We are fully dedicated to hiring the most qualified candidate regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
If you need a reasonable accommodation for any portion of the employment process, email us at [email protected] and provide your contact info.
Pursuant to applicable federal law and regulations, positions at STR require employees to obtain national security clearances and satisfy the requirements for compliance with export control and other applicable laws.
Skills Required
- U.S. citizen
- Active US security clearance with SCI eligibility
- BS in Computer Science or related field
- At least 5 years of relevant work experience
- Experience with CI/CD tools and pipeline automation (GitLab/GitLab CI)
- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud)
- Experience with automated provisioning tools (Ansible or Chef)
- Experience with containerization (Docker, Podman)
- Experience with Kubernetes and Kubernetes management solutions (EKS, Rancher)
- Experience deploying and monitoring Kubernetes clusters and pod configurations
- Basic Linux system administration knowledge
- Knowledge of Python
- Knowledge of Linux shell (Bash)
- Knowledge of cybersecurity fundamentals
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively; organized and detail-oriented
- Effective communicator to technical and non-technical audiences
- Located in San Diego, CA; Denver, CO; Arlington, VA; or Boston, MA, or willing to relocate
- Active Top Secret clearance (preferred)
- Advanced degree in CS, IT, or related field (preferred)
- Experience with full web-service stack, databases, logging, and monitoring (preferred)
- Experience with project tracking tools such as Jira (preferred)
- Experience with GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Flux) and GitOps workflows (preferred)
- Experience deploying/maintaining artifact repositories (Nexus, Artifactory) (preferred)
- Experience with static/dynamic code analysis tools (SonarQube, Coverity) (preferred)
- Experience with Terraform (preferred)
- Experience leading teams in Agile/SCRUM (preferred)
- Security+ certification (preferred)
What the Team is Saying
STR Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company matching is included, signaling employer‑backed long‑term savings.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — An option to opt into company equity after four quarters is available, indicating accessible ownership opportunities tied to tenure.
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Flexible Benefits — Flexible schedules, a remote work program, and home‑office stipends or supplied equipment indicate adaptability in work setup.
STR Insights
What We Do
STR makes the world a safer place by developing technology and applying it to solve emerging national security challenges.
Why Work With Us
We believe in a people-first culture. Yes, we are scientists, engineers, and researchers, but first, we are people. Our environment is designed to foster innovation by encouraging our employees to work collaboratively on things they are passionate about. We also really like to have fun. We believe that working hard and playing hard go hand in hand.
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STR Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
