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Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Designs, builds, and operates shared cloud and private-cloud platforms across Azure and AWS. Develops infrastructure-as-code, automation, Kubernetes capabilities, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and self-service developer tooling. The role establishes reliability, security, scalability, and cost standards; supports troubleshooting, capacity planning, vulnerability remediation, disaster recovery, and lifecycle management; and leads platform initiatives through production while contributing to architecture and mentoring engineers.
Summary Generated by Built In
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and 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
This position may be based in San Diego or San Mateo, CA; Dallas, TX; the Seattle-Tacoma, WA area; Washington, D.C.; and Boston, MA.
Shield AI is seeking a Senior Cloud Platform Engineer to design, build, and operate the shared technology platforms that support our engineering, autonomy development, and enterprise operations environments.
As part of the Cloud & Infrastructure team within Enterprise Operations, this role will develop standardized infrastructure, automation, and developer-facing capabilities across Shield AI's public and private cloud environments. You will partner closely with Engineering, DevOps, Infrastructure, Network, and Cybersecurity teams to deliver scalable, secure, and reliable platform services that reduce manual operations and improve developer productivity.
What you'll do:
* Design, build, and operate scalable platform infrastructure across Azure, AWS, and private cloud environments.
* Develop reusable infrastructure-as-code modules, automation frameworks, and self-service platform capabilities for engineering teams.
* Own platform initiatives from technical design and implementation through production operations and continuous improvement.
* Build and maintain container and Kubernetes platform capabilities, including deployment automation, configuration management, observability, and lifecycle management.
* Develop platform tooling and automation using technologies such as Terraform, Ansible, Python, and Go.
* Build standardized paved paths that simplify infrastructure provisioning, application deployment, and access to shared platform services.
* Establish and maintain platform standards for reliability, scalability, security, performance, and cost efficiency.
* Support capacity planning, performance tuning, vulnerability remediation, disaster recovery, and platform lifecycle management.
* Build and improve CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, logging, alerting, and other developer-facing platform services.
* Troubleshoot complex platform, infrastructure, and application integration issues and lead root-cause analysis.
* Develop and maintain architecture diagrams, technical documentation, operational procedures, and reusable implementation patterns.
* Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend solutions that improve automation, reliability, and developer productivity.
* Provide technical guidance to other engineers and contribute to platform architecture, standards, and roadmap decisions.
* Participate in an on-call rotation and scheduled after-hours maintenance as needed.
* Develop reusable infrastructure-as-code modules, automation frameworks, and self-service platform capabilities for engineering teams.
* Own platform initiatives from technical design and implementation through production operations and continuous improvement.
* Build and maintain container and Kubernetes platform capabilities, including deployment automation, configuration management, observability, and lifecycle management.
* Develop platform tooling and automation using technologies such as Terraform, Ansible, Python, and Go.
* Build standardized paved paths that simplify infrastructure provisioning, application deployment, and access to shared platform services.
* Establish and maintain platform standards for reliability, scalability, security, performance, and cost efficiency.
* Support capacity planning, performance tuning, vulnerability remediation, disaster recovery, and platform lifecycle management.
* Build and improve CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, logging, alerting, and other developer-facing platform services.
* Troubleshoot complex platform, infrastructure, and application integration issues and lead root-cause analysis.
* Develop and maintain architecture diagrams, technical documentation, operational procedures, and reusable implementation patterns.
* Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend solutions that improve automation, reliability, and developer productivity.
* Provide technical guidance to other engineers and contribute to platform architecture, standards, and roadmap decisions.
* Participate in an on-call rotation and scheduled after-hours maintenance as needed.
Required Qualifications:
* 7+ years of experience in platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, or a related discipline.
* Experience designing and operating production infrastructure in Azure, AWS, or comparable public cloud environments.
* Strong experience developing reusable infrastructure-as-code modules and automation using tools such as Terraform and Ansible.
* Hands-on experience deploying and operating containerized workloads and Kubernetes-based platforms.
* Proficiency in Python, Go, or another programming language used to build platform tooling and automation.
* Experience building CI/CD pipelines, self-service infrastructure capabilities, or developer-facing platform services.
* Strong Linux systems administration experience, including deployment, configuration, troubleshooting, patching, and performance analysis.
* Working knowledge of cloud and enterprise networking, including VPCs/VNets, subnets, routing, VPNs, load balancing, DNS, and firewalls.
* Experience implementing monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability for production platforms.
* Understanding of platform security, identity and access management, vulnerability remediation, and secure configuration practices.
* Ability to independently lead complex technical initiatives from design through production deployment.
* Strong technical documentation, communication, collaboration, and organizational skills.
* Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
* Experience designing and operating production infrastructure in Azure, AWS, or comparable public cloud environments.
* Strong experience developing reusable infrastructure-as-code modules and automation using tools such as Terraform and Ansible.
* Hands-on experience deploying and operating containerized workloads and Kubernetes-based platforms.
* Proficiency in Python, Go, or another programming language used to build platform tooling and automation.
* Experience building CI/CD pipelines, self-service infrastructure capabilities, or developer-facing platform services.
* Strong Linux systems administration experience, including deployment, configuration, troubleshooting, patching, and performance analysis.
* Working knowledge of cloud and enterprise networking, including VPCs/VNets, subnets, routing, VPNs, load balancing, DNS, and firewalls.
* Experience implementing monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability for production platforms.
* Understanding of platform security, identity and access management, vulnerability remediation, and secure configuration practices.
* Ability to independently lead complex technical initiatives from design through production deployment.
* Strong technical documentation, communication, collaboration, and organizational skills.
* Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
* Experience supporting commercial, government, regulated, classified, or air-gapped cloud environments.
* Experience with both Microsoft Azure and AWS, including Azure Government or AWS GovCloud.
* Experience with GitOps, Helm, policy as code, secrets management, service catalogs, or internal developer portals.
* Experience designing or supporting internal developer platforms and standardized paved-path tooling.
* Knowledge of private cloud and virtualization platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V, or KVM.
* Experience defining service-level indicators, service-level objectives, incident response practices, and reliability improvements.
* Experience supporting hybrid-cloud architectures spanning public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises infrastructure.
* Experience within aerospace, defense, manufacturing, or other regulated environments.
* Relevant cloud, Kubernetes, Terraform, or platform-engineering certifications.
* Experience with both Microsoft Azure and AWS, including Azure Government or AWS GovCloud.
* Experience with GitOps, Helm, policy as code, secrets management, service catalogs, or internal developer portals.
* Experience designing or supporting internal developer platforms and standardized paved-path tooling.
* Knowledge of private cloud and virtualization platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V, or KVM.
* Experience defining service-level indicators, service-level objectives, incident response practices, and reliability improvements.
* Experience supporting hybrid-cloud architectures spanning public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises infrastructure.
* Experience within aerospace, defense, manufacturing, or other regulated environments.
* Relevant cloud, Kubernetes, Terraform, or platform-engineering certifications.
#LI-KE1
#LC
Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
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. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
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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.
Skills Required
- 7+ years of experience in platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering, or a related discipline
- Experience designing and operating production infrastructure in Azure, AWS, or comparable public cloud environments
- Experience developing reusable infrastructure-as-code modules and automation using Terraform and Ansible
- Hands-on experience deploying and operating containerized workloads and Kubernetes-based platforms
- Proficiency in Python, Go, or another programming language used for platform tooling and automation
- Experience building CI/CD pipelines, self-service infrastructure capabilities, or developer-facing platform services
- Strong Linux systems administration experience, including deployment, configuration, troubleshooting, patching, and performance analysis
- Working knowledge of cloud and enterprise networking, including VPCs/VNets, subnets, routing, VPNs, load balancing, DNS, and firewalls
- Experience implementing monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability for production platforms
- Understanding of platform security, identity and access management, vulnerability remediation, and secure configuration practices
- Ability to independently lead complex technical initiatives from design through production deployment
- Strong technical documentation, communication, collaboration, and organizational skills
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Experience supporting commercial, government, regulated, classified, or air-gapped cloud environments
- Experience with both Microsoft Azure and AWS, including Azure Government or AWS GovCloud
- Experience with GitOps, Helm, policy as code, secrets management, service catalogs, or internal developer portals
- Experience designing or supporting internal developer platforms and standardized paved-path tooling
- Knowledge of private cloud and virtualization platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V, or KVM
- Experience defining service-level indicators, service-level objectives, incident response practices, and reliability improvements
- Experience supporting hybrid-cloud architectures spanning public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises infrastructure
- Experience within aerospace, defense, manufacturing, or other regulated environments
- Relevant cloud, Kubernetes, Terraform, or platform-engineering certifications
What the Team is Saying
Dylan
Lead Engineer, Planning and Controls-Motion
Mo
Lead Engineer, Platform Automation
Willy
Technical Director
Michael
Engineering Manager - State Estimation
Vibhav
Senior Staff Engineer
Kirby
Mechanical Engineer
Ryan
CEO
Evan
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, with dental/vision and mental‑health support, and ancillary protections like life and disability appearing in benefit summaries. The breadth and perceived affordability of coverage are highlighted as a standout component of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is featured alongside enhanced maternity benefits, fertility and childcare support, and onsite resources such as a Mother’s Room. These elements are positioned as competitive and above the minimal baseline for the company’s stage.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full‑time hires, with RSUs, double‑trigger tax timing, and tools to model scenarios (e.g., through Carta Tax). Communications also reference a transition from options to RSUs, reinforcing access and maturity of ownership programs.
Shield AI Insights
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The Company
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.
Typical time on-site:
Flexible
San Diego, CA
United Arab Emirates
Arlington, VA
Frisco, Texas
Ukraine
London
Melbourne, Victoria
Taiwan, Province of China
Waltham, MA
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