You will completely automate tool workflows by writing scripts and API integrations connecting GitLab, Jira, and Confluence. You will configure and optimize C++, Python, and Node.js compilation pipelines, scale auto-running GitLab runner fleets, manage secure Artifactory container registries, deploy Forge in Azure Gov Cloud, and write custom HMS extensions to our pi-gov GenAI routing harness.
What you'll do:
- Write, configure, and maintain robust GitLab CI/CD pipelines and runner environments for C++, Python, and Node.js software projects, ensuring fast compilation and test execution.
- Build, test, and deploy automated tooling integrations, webhook dispatchers, and state-change scripts connecting GitLab, Jira, and Confluence to orchestrate release workflows.
- Write custom Python or Bash extensions for our pi-gov harness, configuring secure, audited LLM routing rules and local container configurations.
- Deploy, scale, and configure the Forge simulation and test orchestrator in Azure Gov Cloud, optimizing runner autoscaling and cloud compute consumption.
- Maintain, configure, and secure Artifactory package registries, implementing secure container builds via BuildKit, secret injection, and Entra ID integration.
- Partner with development teams to migrate legacy project build systems to reproducible Nix developer environments, writing default Nix derivations and flake configurations.
- Troubleshoot pipeline failures, broken builds, registry access issues, and system-level configuration drift across development environments.
Required qualifications:
- Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- Practical experience building, maintaining, and scaling enterprise CI/CD systems, with deep expertise in GitLab CI/CD pipelines and runner infrastructure.
- Direct experience writing scripts (Bash, Python) and utilizing webhooks/APIs to automate and integrate engineering tools (such as Jira, Confluence, and GitLab).
- Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker, multi-stage builds) and package managers (such as Conan, Poetry, or Nix).
- Familiarity with deploying and managing application workloads in cloud environments (such as Azure Gov Cloud or AWS).
- Experience with secure software development practices, secret management, and identity providers (Active Directory, Entra ID).
- Solid Linux system administration, networking, and troubleshooting skills.
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience
- Experience building, maintaining, and scaling enterprise CI/CD systems
- Deep expertise with GitLab CI/CD pipelines and runner infrastructure
- Experience writing Bash and Python scripts
- Experience using webhooks and APIs to automate engineering-tool integrations
- Hands-on experience with Docker, multi-stage builds, and package managers such as Conan, Poetry, or Nix
- Familiarity deploying and managing application workloads in Azure Gov Cloud or AWS
- Experience with secure software development, secret management, and identity providers such as Active Directory or Entra ID
- Solid Linux system administration, networking, and troubleshooting skills
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance
- U.S. citizenship
What the Team is Saying
Shield Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are described as strong and affordable, and offerings include a mental-health assistance program. Overall impressions point to good plan value for many employees.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer matching is highlighted positively, with accounts describing a company match and favorable experiences. Current match formulas and vesting are noted as worth confirming.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Full-time hires receive equity (often via RSUs), positioned as a meaningful component of total rewards. A double-trigger structure is noted as potentially deferring taxes until a liquidity event.
Shield Insights
What We Do
At Shield 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 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 Teams
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Shield Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
