Staff Software Engineer - Build Platform

Role Description

We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer – Build Platform to architect, scale, and evolve the systems that make this possible. This is not a traditional DevOps or CI/CD role. This is a senior technical leadership position where you'll own one of the most critical engineering platforms at RapidFort.

• Own the architecture and long-term technical strategy for RapidFort's Build Platform.
• Design and operate highly scalable distributed build systems capable of producing and maintaining thousands of production-ready container images.
• Build automated systems for image creation, validation, signing, publishing, and lifecycle management.
• Improve build performance, scalability, reproducibility, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Design automation that eliminates manual engineering work while improving developer productivity.
• Develop internal tooling and platform services using Python, Bash, and modern cloud-native technologies.
• Solve complex Linux, dependency management, networking, container, and build-system challenges.
• Drive engineering standards around software supply chain integrity, reproducible builds, and platform reliability.
• Partner closely with Platform Engineering, Security Research, Product Engineering, and Infrastructure teams.
• Lead architecture reviews and influence technical decisions across multiple engineering organizations.
• Mentor senior engineers and help raise the technical bar across the company.
• Continuously identify opportunities to simplify systems, improve reliability, and reduce operational overhead.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure engineering, or developer platform experience.
• Demonstrated experience architecting and operating large-scale build platforms or distributed infrastructure.
• U.S. Citizenship required pursuant to applicable federal customer requirements.
• Deep expertise with Linux systems and operating system internals.
• Expert knowledge of Docker, OCI container images, and container ecosystems.
• Strong Python development experience.
• Strong Bash scripting skills.
• Experience designing distributed automation systems and developer platforms.
• Strong Kubernetes experience in production environments.
• Experience operating modern CI/CD platforms such as GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Buildkite, GitLab CI, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of software build systems, dependency management, package management, and artifact lifecycle.
• Experience troubleshooting large-scale distributed systems in production.
• Strong Git-based development workflows.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to influence engineering across multiple teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives without direct management responsibility.

Requirements

• Go (Golang)
• BuildKit, Bazel, or advanced build optimization techniques
• Terraform or Infrastructure as Code
• AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Helm
• OCI registries and artifact management
• Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
• Sigstore, Cosign, SLSA, in-toto, SPDX, or CycloneDX
• Prometheus, Grafana, or OpenTelemetry
• Supply chain security, container security, or Kubernetes security
• Experience building internal developer platforms
• Experience working in high-growth startups or cloud infrastructure companies

Benefits

• Base Salary: $150,000–$200,000, depending on experience and qualifications
• Annual performance bonus
• Meaningful equity participation
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Flexible PTO
• Flexible work environment
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge cybersecurity and cloud-native technologies
• Direct influence on the architecture and technical direction of a rapidly growing cybersecurity company