Staff Operations Engineer

Staff Operations Engineer

Mozilla Corporation is the non-profit-backed technology company that has shaped the internet for the better over the last 25 years. We make pioneering brands like Firefox, the privacy-minded web browser. Now, with more than 225 million people around the world using our products each month, we're shaping the next 25 years of technology and helping to reclaim an internet built for people, not companies. Our work focuses on diverse areas including AI, social media, security, and more. And we're doing this without losing focus on our core mission - to make the internet better for people.

The Mozilla Corporation is wholly owned by the non-profit 501(c) Mozilla Foundation. This means we aren't beholden to any shareholders - only to our mission. Along with thousands of volunteer contributors and collaborators worldwide, Mozillians design, build, and distribute open-source software that enables people to enjoy the internet on their terms.

About This Team And Role:

A Staff Operations Engineer leads the design, reliability, and evolution of hybrid-cloud and workplace infrastructure. This senior role spans teams, drives complex initiatives, sets technical direction, and ensures systems are scalable, secure, and efficient.

This role combines technical execution with leadership, shaping architecture both directly and collaboratively.

What You'll Do:

Domain Architecture & Technical Direction

• Own and evolve architecture within a defined infrastructure domain
• Design and implement scalable, reliable systems spanning multiple teams or environments
• Establish and promote best practices, patterns, and standards within the domain
• Contribute to medium- and long-term technical strategy (typically 6-18 months)

Complex Problem Solving & Execution

• Lead delivery of ambiguous, high-impact infrastructure projects
• Break down elaborate system problems into implementable solutions
• Drive migrations, re-architectures, and performance/reliability improvements
• Remain hands-on with critical systems and implementations

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Work across teams (IT, SRE, Security, Service Owners) to unify solutions.
• Influence technical decisions through design reviews and collaboration
• Ensure systems integrate cleanly across infrastructures (office, DC, cloud)

Reliability, Operations & Scaling

• Improve system reliability through monitoring, alerting, and operational design
• Contribute to defining SLIs/SLOs and capacity planning within the domain
• Participate in and lead root cause analysis for complex incidents
• Decrease operational toil through automation and system improvements

Infrastructure & Networking Depth

• Design and support core infrastructure components (compute, DNS, networking, identity, etc.)
• Drive improvements in performance, scalability, and dependability
• Contribute deep expertise in at least one area (e.g., DNS, network architecture, cloud infra)

Automation & Tooling

• Build and improve automation using scripting and Infrastructure as Code
• Contribute to internal tooling and platform improvements
• Promote repeatable, standardized approaches to system management

Mentorship & Technical Guidance

• Mentor engineers and guide system design and troubleshooting
• Raise the technical quality of the team through reviews and shared practices
• Act as a go-to resource within the domain

Documentation & Operational Clarity

• Maintain clear documentation, diagrams, and runbooks for systems owned
• Ensure systems are understandable and operable by others
• Contribute to knowledge sharing across teams

What You'll Bring:

• 6+ years of experience in systems engineering or infrastructure roles
• Strong experience designing and operating production infrastructure
• Linux/Unix Operating Systems
• Networking fundamentals (DNS, TCP/IP, routing, firewalls)
• Data center environments
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical work across teams

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code
• Puppet/Ansible/etc
• Python
• Familiarity with observability tooling and reliability practices
• Experience with containerization and modern platform tooling
• Exposure to security best practices in infrastructure design

Key Competencies

• Multi-Team Impact: Demonstrate influence and contributions that extend beyond your immediate team. Consistently participate in initiatives that affect infrastructure within your broader domain, and provide support or guidance across multiple teams when necessary.
• Technical Ownership (Scoped): Take responsibility for systems or architecture within a clearly defined area of the infrastructure. Oversee the health, evolution, and quality of these systems, ensuring alignment with organizational standards.
• Execution Amid Ambiguity: Delivers on loosely defined problems with high impact
• Influence Without Authority: Drives alignment through credibility and alliance
• Balance of Depth + Breadth: Deep in one area, competent across adjacent systems
• Hands-On Leadership: Actively contributes to implementation, not just design

What You'll Get:

• Generous performance-based bonus plans for all eligible employees - we share in our success as one team
• Rich medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous retirement contributions with 100% immediate vesting (regardless of whether you contribute)
• Quarterly all-company wellness days where everyone takes a pause together
• Country-specific holidays plus a day off for your birthday
• One-time home office stipend
• Annual professional development budget
• Quarterly well-being stipend
• Considerable paid parental leave
• Employee referral bonus program
• Other benefits (life/AD&D, disability, EAP, etc. - varies by country)

About Mozilla

Mozilla exists to build the Internet as a public resource accessible to all because we believe that open and free is better than closed and controlled. When you work at Mozilla, you give yourself a chance to make a difference in the lives of Web users everywhere. And you give us a chance to make a difference in your life every single day. Join us to work on the Web as the platform and help create more opportunity and innovation for everyone online.

Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging

Mozilla understands that valuing diverse creative practices and forms of knowledge are crucial to and enrich the company's core mission. We encourage applications from everyone, including members of all equity-seeking communities, such as (but certainly not limited to) women, racialized and Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions.

We will ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, as appropriate. Please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io to request accommodation.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race (including hairstyle and texture), religion (including religious grooming and dress practices), gender, gender identity, gender expression, color, national origin, pregnancy, ancestry, domestic partner status, disability, sexual orientation, age, genetic predisposition, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, military or veteran status, or any other basis covered by applicable laws. Mozilla will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics or any other unlawful behavior, conduct, or purpose.