We build and operate the platform that our engineers and our customers rely on.
The platform isn't a product that's ever "finished." It's something we improve continuously. Every deployment, outage, bug, and annoying manual task is an opportunity to make the system better.
An L3 Platform Engineer is a fully contributing member of that effort.
This isn't a ticket factory. We expect engineers to think critically, collaborate closely, and continuously improve both the platform and the way we build it.
How We Work:
- Pair programming is our default way of developing software.
- We work in small batches.
- We integrate continuously.
- We automate repetitive work.
- We test first whenever practical.
- We optimize for learning and feedback instead of individual velocity.
- The team owns the outcome.
Our engineering culture is built on Extreme Programming and Continuous Delivery.
That means:
If you're looking for a role where you're handed tickets, disappear for a week, and come back with a pull request, this isn't it.
What You'll Do:
- Build and improve the platform that deploys and operates customer environments.
- Develop infrastructure as code using Ansible, Terraform, Helm, Zarf, Big Bang, Packer, and related tooling.
- Improve Kubernetes platforms and the systems around them.
- Build deployment automation that reduces risk and removes manual work.
- Pair with other engineers to design, implement, and troubleshoot platform capabilities.
- Write automated tests for infrastructure and deployment workflows.
- Improve observability, reliability, security, and recoverability.
- Write documentation that explains why something exists—not just how to type commands.
- Leave every part of the system better than you found it.
What We Expect:
- Why did this happen?
- Why wasn't it detected sooner?
- How do we make this impossible or at least unlikely next time?
Software is never finished.
Your goal isn't simply to make today's feature work.
Your goal is to leave the code, infrastructure, and deployment process easier to change tomorrow.
You Prefer AutomationIf humans perform the same task repeatedly, the system probably needs improvement.
Manual processes are temporary.
Automation is the destination.
You Think in Small BatchesLarge changes hide mistakes.
Small changes expose them.
We value engineers who can decompose large problems into safe, incremental improvements.
You Work as Part of the TeamPlatform engineering is a collaborative discipline.
You bring potential solutions to the team, clearly explain your reasoning and tradeoffs, and help the team build a shared understanding of the code or design not merely produce it. You are responsible for understanding, validating, and clearly communicating the work you contribute.
You Improve the SystemWhen something goes wrong, we don't stop at fixing it.
We ask:
Incidents should improve the platform.
Technical Expectations:
- Kubernetes
- Linux
- Networking fundamentals
- Git and trunk-based development
- GitLab CI
- Infrastructure as Code
- Ansible
- Terraform
- Helm
- Zarf
- Containers
- PKI and certificate management
- Secrets management
- Observability
- Infrastructure testing
- Troubleshooting distributed systems
You should be comfortable working across most of these areas:
No one is expected to know everything.
We do expect you to learn quickly and become productive in unfamiliar systems.
How Success Is Measured:
- Deploy more frequently.
- Deploy more safely.
- Recover from failures faster.
- Remove manual work.
- Reduce operational complexity.
- Improve documentation.
- Increase confidence through testing.
- Deliver changes in small, reversible increments.
- Make the platform easier to operate and easier to evolve.
Successful L3 engineers consistently help the team:
What We Value:
- Simplicity over cleverness.
- Evidence over opinion.
- Learning over ego.
- Automation over repetition.
- Continuous improvement over perfection.
- Team outcomes over individual heroics.
What Doesn't Fit Here:
- Building knowledge silos.
- Defending "the way we've always done it."
- Optimizing for personal productivity instead of team throughput.
- Big-bang rewrites when incremental change will work.
- Manual work that should be automated.
- Complexity without a clear operational benefit.
Skills Required
- Kubernetes
- Linux
- Networking fundamentals
- Git and trunk-based development
- GitLab CI
- Infrastructure as Code
- Ansible
- Terraform
- Helm
- Zarf
- Big Bang
- Packer
- Containers
- PKI and certificate management
- Secrets management
- Observability
- Infrastructure testing
- Troubleshooting distributed systems
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental-health support, with company materials describing excellent coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are comprehensive and consistently highlighted across official and third-party benefit lists.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full-time hires, with RSU structures and tools like Carta Tax intended to improve understanding and tax timing. Feedback suggests this broad-based ownership approach is a notable component of total rewards.
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Parental & Family Support — Benefits include paid parental leave, fertility support, childcare benefits, family medical leave, and onsite resources such as a Mother's Room. Feedback suggests the family-oriented offerings are more expansive than basic coverage.
Shield AI Insights
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
