Staff Cloud Engineer (R5801)

Posted 6 Hours Ago
Be an Early Applicant
San Diego, CA, USA
In-Office
152K-228K Annually
Entry level
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software
Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Design, build, and operate AWS cloud infrastructure, shared development environments, and containerized workloads. Automate provisioning and lifecycle management with Terraform and infrastructure-as-code tools, improve observability and reliability, troubleshoot infrastructure issues, implement IAM and security controls, and optimize cloud costs and capacity while partnering with engineering, cybersecurity, and operations teams.
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 LinkedInXInstagram, and YouTube. 

Job Description

    Cloud Engineering builds and operates the infrastructure and environments that support Shield AI’s software products and platforms. 

    As a Staff Cloud Engineer, you will design, build, and operate the cloud infrastructure and environments used to develop, test, integrate, and host Shield AI’s software products and platforms. You will work across AWS infrastructure, shared development environments, and supporting platform services to improve how these systems are provisioned, operated, and maintained. 

    This is a hands-on engineering role focused on infrastructure automation, reliability, and operational stability. You will troubleshoot problems across infrastructure and services, improve existing systems, and work with engineering teams to build infrastructure that meets their development and integration needs. 

What You'll Do

  • Design, build, and operate AWS infrastructure and shared development and integration environments  
  • Build and maintain infrastructure using Terraform and other infrastructure-as-code tools  
  • Automate environment provisioning, configuration, lifecycle management, and other recurring infrastructure tasks  
  • Build and operate infrastructure supporting containerized applications and workloads  
  • Establish and improve observability across cloud infrastructure and supporting services  
  • Diagnose and resolve infrastructure and environment issues across products and platform services. 
  • Improve the reliability and consistency of shared environments and platform services. 
  • Partner with Cybersecurity, Infosec, and Enterprise Ops to implement infrastructure and access controls that meet security and compliance requirements  
  • Monitor resource utilization and identify opportunities to improve infrastructure cost and capacity  

Required Qualifications

  • Experience supporting shared cloud infrastructure across multiple products or engineering teams 
  • Experience with Kubernetes or other container orchestration platforms  
  • Experience with infrastructure as code tooling 
  • Experience designing automated or ephemeral environment lifecycle management  
  • Experience operating infrastructure in regulated or compliance-driven environments  
  • Experience implementing cloud IAM, access controls, and infrastructure security requirements  
  • Experience with AWS cost management, capacity planning, or resource optimization

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

  • Experience supporting shared cloud infrastructure across multiple products or engineering teams
  • Experience with Kubernetes or other container orchestration platforms
  • Experience with infrastructure as code tooling
  • Experience designing automated or ephemeral environment lifecycle management
  • Experience operating infrastructure in regulated or compliance-driven environments
  • Experience implementing cloud IAM, access controls, and infrastructure security requirements
  • Experience with AWS cost management, capacity planning, or resource optimization

What the Team is Saying

Dylan
Mo
Willy
Michael
Vibhav
Kirby
Ryan
Evan

Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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The Company
HQ: San Diego, CA
Year Founded: 2015

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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About our Teams

Shield AI Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

Typical time on-site: Flexible
HQSan Diego, CA
United Arab Emirates
Arlington, VA
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Frisco, Texas
Ukraine
London
Melbourne, Victoria
Taiwan, Province of China
Waltham, MA
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