# Staff Engineer, HMS DevOps/DevEx

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** Washington, DC
**Role:** DevOps / SRE
**Salary:** $150k – $220k/yr
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** gitlab ci/cd, gitlab runners, Python, Bash, Docker, nix, azure gov cloud, artifactory, Jira, Confluence, Linux, entra id
**Posted:** 2026-07-24

> Staff Engineer building and scaling GitLab CI/CD pipelines, DevOps automation, and developer tooling (including Nix environments, Azure Gov Cloud deployments, and GenAI routing) to maximize velocity, reproducibility, and security for C++/Python/Node.js projects. Requires deep CI/CD expertise, scripting, containerization, cloud experience, and ability to obtain SECRET clearance.

## Job Description

## 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).

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**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/f93cff54-6e1b-4ab9-af24-b269d2c0201a
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