Shield AI

Senior Manager, DevOps Engineering (R5198)

Shield AI$180K — $280K *
Enterprise Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field; 7+ years experience (5+ years with a Master's)
  • 2+ years in people leadership/engineering management roles
  • Experience managing C/C++ build systems (CMake) and package management (Conan)
  • Proven success in building and scaling CI/CD systems, particularly with GitLab
  • Familiarity with Nix or reproducible development environments preferred
  • Direct experience with Jira, Confluence, and GitLab integrations
  • Hands-on experience with Artifactory or Docker registries

Responsibilities

  • Lead and mentor a DevOps team, setting clear goals and fostering operational excellence
  • Standardize C++, Python, and Node.js build ecosystems, and guide migration to Nix
  • Collaborate with the Hivemind Platform team for alignment on build and packaging processes
  • Oversee performance and security of CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, ensuring integration with JIRA and Confluence
  • Govern Artifactory registries and manage secure container workflows using Docker
  • Enhance developer experience by optimizing local environments and documentation
  • Support deployment and orchestration of testing tools in Gov Cloud environments

Benefits

  • Health, dental, and vision insurance
  • Generous paid time off and holidays
  • Retirement savings plan with employer matching
  • Employee equity options
  • Continuous learning and professional development opportunities
Full Job Description


Job Description:

As the Hivemind Solutions DevOps Lead, you will lead, scale, and mentor a high-impact team of DevOps and Infrastructure Engineers responsible for the software development life cycle, build pipelines, developer environment tooling, and release infrastructure across all Hivemind Solutions.

Your team is the foundation of our engineering velocity, owning the tools and pipelines that enable hundreds of autonomy, software, and systems engineers to safely and rapidly compile, test, configure, and release AI Pilot capabilities. You will drive the modernization of our build and packaging systems (Conan, Poetry, CMake, CUE, and upcoming adoption of Nix) and ensure our software delivery pipelines, Artifactory registries, developer tooling, and Gov Cloud test environments remain highly performant, scalable, and resilient.

What you'll do:

  • Manage and grow a team of specialized DevOps, build, and infrastructure engineers. Set clear technical goals, conduct performance reviews, provide mentorship, and foster a culture of high operational excellence.
  • Maintain, optimize, and standardize our C++, Python, and Node.js build ecosystems across the organization using tools like Conan, CMake, and Poetry, while leading the technical roadmap and migration strategy for emerging reproducible environment tooling such as Nix. Standardize profile environments and lockfile management workflows.
  • Partner closely with the Hivemind Platform (HMP) team to ensure seamless technical alignment, common build patterns, and efficient packaging/dependency update strategies between Platform products and Hivemind Solutions programs.
  • Own the performance, security, and scaling of repository hosting and CI/CD pipelines in GitLab. Partner on integrating GitLab with Jira and Confluence to enable automated, highly visible, and seamless developer workflows.
  • Govern Artifactory remote registries (including internal C++, Python, Docker, and restricted ITAR/CUI repositories) and orchestrate secure container build workflows using BuildKit/Docker with strict credential containment (secret injection, Entra ID integration).
  • Champion the "Developer Experience" (DevEx) by optimizing local development environments. Streamline workstation setup scripts, build out shared developer CLI utilities, and champion best practices for documentation and workspace templates in Confluence.
  • Support the deployment, scaling, and orchestration of the Forge simulation and test orchestrator within Gov Cloud environments. Partner with simulation and test teams to optimize test runner performance and automate simulation-artifact collection pipelines.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with the Hivemind Platform (HMP) team, Autonomy, Systems Integration, Security, and IT groups to align DevOps roadmaps with broader Hivemind Solutions milestones. Maintain clear visibility into pipeline reliability, build times, queue lengths, and Gov Cloud infrastructure budgets.


Required qualifications:

  • Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline and 7+ years of related experience (or 5+ years with a Master's, or equivalent practical experience), including 2+ years of direct people leadership, team lead, or engineering management experience.
  • Strong practical experience managing enterprise C/C++ build systems (CMake) and package management (Conan) alongside Python package management (Poetry, pip).
  • Proven track record building, maintaining, and scaling enterprise CI/CD systems, with deep expertise in GitLab CI/CD pipelines and runner infrastructure.
  • Familiarity with Nix or other reproducible development environments, package managers, and declarative build systems is highly preferred.
  • Direct experience with Jira, Confluence, and GitLab integrations to automate releases, track work, manage sprint cycles, and maintain engineering documentation.
  • Hands-on experience managing Artifactory (or Nexus), Docker registries, and multi-stage Docker builds optimized for size, speed, and security (BuildKit secrets).
  • Familiarity with deploying and managing test runners or applications in cloud environments (such as Azure Gov Cloud or AWS).
  • Familiarity with declarative configuration languages (CUE, JSON, YAML) and container orchestration tools (Docker Compose, Kubernetes, or similar).
  • Solid Linux (Ubuntu/RedHat) system administration skills, including debugging tools, performance tuning, and scripting (Bash, Python) to troubleshoot developer environments and pipelines.
  • Experience with secure software development practices, secret management, identity providers (Active Directory, Entra ID), and managing software compilation/deployment under compliance frameworks (such as NIST or ITAR/CUI-governed environments).
  • Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).


$180,000 - $280,000 a year

#LI-LD1

#LE

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.

About Shield AI

Shield AI is a defense technology company that develops artificially intelligent systems for military applications. The company was founded in 2015 by Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, and Andrew Reiter, and is headquartered in San Diego, California. Shield AI's products include autonomous drones and software that can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and other military operations. The company's mission is to reduce the number of military casualties by providing soldiers with better intelligence and situational awareness. Shield AI has received funding from a number of investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund.
Learn more about Shield AI
Size
200 employees
Industry
Founded
2015

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Shield AI

More Enterprise Technology Jobs

Find similar Senior Manager, DevOps Engineering (R5198) jobs: