Principal Infrastructure Software Engineer
ABOUT THE JOB
Company Intro: TurbineOne is a fast-moving and high-performance startup with a mission to strengthen situational awareness for all Americans serving at our nation’s frontlines — and we are backed by the best DefenseTech venture capitalists. Our Frontline Perception System is an edge-first software platform that allows anyone, even with no technical knowledge, to build and use machine learning models within a comms-contested tactical environment.
We're seeking a versatile and experienced Software Engineer with a DevOps Focus to take ownership of our build systems, pipelines, and development tooling. Our engineering team spans multiple languages (Go, Python, Js), platforms (Linux, Windows, multi-arch), and repositories — and we need someone ready to bring order and efficiency to our growing and complex environment. This is a high-impact opportunity to define and implement scalable, secure build systems that support field deployments and compliance pipelines for mission-critical software. If you're excited by open-ended challenges and want to shape the foundation of a growing DefenseTech product, we want to hear from you.
Job Title: Principal Infrastructure Software Engineer
Location: Remote, with availability for periodic in-person meetings or team gatherings
Reports To: Engineering Operations Manager
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design, build, and maintain our build and deployment systems across a multi-repo, multi-language codebase.
- Add efficiency, robustness and security to our release processes by standing up automated tools or processes as necessary.
- Integrate security and compliance workflows, including tools like Grype and SBOM generation for ATO/IATT processes.
- Support container and artifact packaging, release automation, and reproducible builds across OS and CPU architectures. This includes version control and tagging schemas to work with different build types (nightly, dev, release) and developer workflows.
- Collaborate with software, ML and field engineers to ensure fast, reliable, and developer-friendly tooling.
- Maintain our Makefile and Docker Bake build system while seeking out and identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Document tooling, pipelines, and processes clearly and maintainably.
- Build and test automation for both cloud-based development workflows and air-gapped production deployment workflows.
ON A TYPICAL DAY, YOU WOULD
- Patch up a Makefile dependency chain that’s gotten out of sync and refactor for readability.
- Maintain and improve our current build and deployments system, which uses Make, Docker bake and custom Python infrastructure code to build API-compatible packages across multiple repositories.
- Investigate a cross-compilation issue affecting an ARM/Linux target and diagnose the cause.
- Implement SBOM generation and wire it into GitHub Enterprise CI workflows.
- Package and store deliverables for easy access by relevant personnel.
- Debug a flaky build pipeline or blocked deployment job.
- Write maintainable software tooling to support rapidly changing requirements.
- Propose and prototype a path toward more unified and modular builds.
- Triage and coordinate the fix for an automated test failure.
- Build and maintain infrastructure-as-code to support high-confidence deployments at scale.
DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES
- High standard of ethics, grit, integrity, and moral character.
- 6+ years of experience in software engineering, CI/CD, or DevOps roles.
- Experience managing complex builds across multiple languages and platforms.
- Deep understanding of Linux-based development environments (x86/ARM experience a plus).
- Hands-on experience with GitHub Enterprise, GitHub Actions, Docker, and vulnerability assessment.
- Intimately familiar with git operations and workflows.
- Implementation experience with automated testing and validations through CI/CD.
- Familiarity with compliance-focused build environments, including SBOM, CVE tracking and reporting.
- Strong debugging skills and the willingness to dive into Makefiles, shell scripts, or container issues.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills — you can clearly explain what you built and why.
- Experience building enterprise level software systems.
- Desire to work at a fast-paced, small startup and own major infrastructure initiatives.
- A college degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field is preferred.
STARTUP CULTURE EXPECTATIONS
- We’re a small, fully remote team, and everything is our responsibility.
- Our team thrives on autonomy, trust, and solid communication.
- Everyone on the Team needs to be very comfortable with constant change, moving fast, sharing failures, embracing grit, and building things themselves.
ELIGIBILITY
- Must be eligible to obtain a clearance with the U.S. government.
FOR INTERNAL USE DURING THE HIRING PROCESS
Desired Skills:
- Strong experience with CI/CD pipelines and Docker containerization.
- Experience in cross-platform, multi-arch builds.
- Knowledge of build tooling in Go, Python, and frontend frameworks.
- Ability to design secure, compliant build pipelines.
- Familiarity with air-gapped deployment constraints.
Desired Attributes:
- Systems thinker who sees the big picture but enjoys fixing the details.
- Inquisitive mindset with strong ownership over technical systems.
- Thrives in ambiguity and takes initiative without waiting for direction.
- Collaborative, patient, and user-focused when supporting other engineers.
Culture Fit:
- Deep interest in DefenseTech or national security missions.
- Strong work ethic and high personal standards.
- Comfortable in a fully-remote team with occasional in-person collaboration.