# Staff Engineer, GenAI Tooling & DevEx

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** Washington, DC
**Role:** DevOps / SRE
**Salary:** $150k – $220k/yr
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** Generative AI, LLMs, C++, Python, Node.js, Bash, GitLab, Jira, Confluence, Docker, nix, Azure, AWS, CI/CD
**Posted:** 2026-07-31

> Build and maintain GenAI tooling, automation, and integrations that accelerate software engineering workflows for robotics and autonomy teams. Requires hands-on LLM tool development, DevOps automation, secure cloud/container experience, and ability to obtain SECRET clearance.

## Job Description

## What you'll do

- Design, develop, and maintain GenAI-enabled developer tools for C++, Python, and Node.js software projects.
- Partner with robotics and autonomy engineers to identify high-friction workflows and convert them into secure, repeatable GenAI-assisted tooling.
- Extend our custom GenAI harness with Python or Bash tools, secure LLM routing, audited execution paths, and local containerized environments.
- Build integrations across GitLab, Jira, Confluence, and internal developer systems to provide GenAI tools with useful engineering context.
- Improve build, test, and developer-environment workflows, including GenAI-assisted adoption of reproducible Nix development environments.
- Support engineers adopting GenAI tooling through documentation, examples, troubleshooting, and feedback-driven improvements.

## Required qualifications

- Typically requires a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
- Fluent with GenAI-assisted development. You can pair with AI tools to explore ideas, generate code, debug issues, and quickly turn rough concepts into working prototypes.
- Hands-on experience building LLM-powered tools for software development.
- 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).
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).

## Preferred qualifications

- Practical experience building, maintaining, and scaling enterprise CI/CD systems.
- Experience developing tools in CUI and ITAR environments.
- Expertise in tuning LLMs for specialized use.
- Familiarity with deploying custom LLMs.

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