Firestorm is building the next generation of uncrewed aircraft and the advanced manufacturing systems that deliver them at speed. The Software Integration & Operations department owns the software layer that spans factory floor to cloud — the applications, automation, edge systems, and intelligence that make it possible to iterate product designs, automate advanced manufacturing, and scale production with uncompromising quality and rigor.

About the Role

As a Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, you own the cloud runtime the manufacturing software platform operates on. Your scope is how the platform actually runs in production — the Kubernetes clusters, the service mesh, the observability stack, the deployment pipelines, and the multi-account patterns that keep everything reliable across commercial cloud, GovCloud, and on-premise edge environments. This is a hands-on IC role where reliability is the product: developer velocity, incident response quality, and production stability are all downstream of how well the platform you own operates.

What You'll Do

Own the cloud runtime — Kubernetes clusters, service mesh, and multi-account patterns — that the manufacturing software platform operates on across commercial cloud, GovCloud, and on-premise edge environments.
Design and evolve the platform's infrastructure-as-code, from foundational Terraform modules through Helm charts and GitOps workflows.
Own runtime observability end-to-end: metrics, traces, logs, SLOs, alerting, and the dashboards engineers actually use during incidents.
Drive production reliability — define incident response practices for the platform, serve as the escalation point during incidents, and run blameless post-mortems
Architect the service mesh and traffic management layer — Istio or equivalent — to support routing, resilience, and observability patterns at platform scale.
Partner with the Infrastructure & Security Engineer and DevOps functions to devise security and compliance requirements, and adopt a common CI/CD infrastructure
Raise the operational bar across the department — deployment practices, runbook quality, on-call rotations, etc.
Demonstrated history of holding yourself and your teammates to a high standard, even when it creates discomfort.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).
5+ years of cloud infrastructure, platform engineering, or SRE experience with production ownership of a non-trivial platform.
Deep proficiency in Kubernetes in production — not just deploying workloads, but operating clusters, managing upgrades, and diagnosing failures at the cluster level.
Strong proficiency in Terraform and infrastructure-as-code patterns at multi-account scale.
Hands-on experience with service mesh technologies (Istio, Linkerd, or equivalent) and the patterns they enable — traffic management, authorization policies, observability.
Deep experience with cloud observability across at least one mature stack: metrics, distributed tracing, log aggregation, and alerting — and a track record of using them to find problems, not just display them.
Demonstrated incident response leadership — you have been the person in the room during production incidents and the one running the post-mortem afterward.
Demonstrated history of holding yourself and your teammates to a high standard, even when it creates discomfort.
U.S. person status required due to ITAR/EAR constraints on the work.

Preferred Qualifications

Hands-on experience with AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or other regulated cloud environments.
Experience deploying containerized workloads into on-premise or air-gapped environments.
Familiarity with identity providers (Keycloak, Okta, Auth0) and OIDC/OAuth2 flows at scale.
Background that includes building a platform from early-stage through production-scale, not just operating a mature one.

Work Environment

Based at our Headquarters in San Diego, CA
This role requires an on-site presence

This position typically operates in a standard office setting and manufacturing environment. This role requires use of standard office equipment and may involve exposure to loud noise, heat, cold, dust, or chemicals (with PPE). This position may have exposure to outdoor weather conditions, noise, and non-climate-controlled environments. May require the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) depending on the environment. This is a fast-paced work environment and requires cross departmental collaboration with independent and team-based responsibilities.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Ability to sit, stand, bend, reach, climb, and move about regularly throughout the day. Must have manual dexterity to operate standard machine equipment as well as standard office equipment. Must be physically capable of tolerating loud noise, heat, cold, dust, or chemicals (with PPE).

Compensation

US Salary Range: $140,000 - $185,000 USD

The posted salary range reflects an estimate based on a variety of compensation factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, education, certifications, specialized skills, geographic location, and business needs. Actual compensation may vary, and this range is subject to change as our compensation structure or market conditions evolve.

Benefits & Perks

Our culture fosters collaboration, respect, and trust, empowering passionate people to do their best work. We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for career growth. In addition to an opportunity to take part in an innovative, collaborative and fast-growing business with a highly motivated and skilled team, we also take pride in taking care of our employees. Here are just a few ways that we show our appreciation:

We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and visions plans
401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to invest in your long-term retirement goals
Equity grants for new hires
Unlimited PTO
Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in November, & December.
Generous Parental Leave
Lifestyle Spending Account
FSA
DCFSA
HSA
Hospital Indemnity insurance
Critical Illness insurance
Accident insurance
Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus, the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family.
Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available to you as well.

Export Control Compliance

To conform to U.S. government export control regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Department of Commerce.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Firestorm is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, and upholding equitable hiring practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic under federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the CA Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We actively encourage members of recognized minorities, women, Veterans, and those with disabilities to apply, and we work to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all applicants throughout the interview process.

Firestorm is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require accommodations or assistance during the application process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at careers@launchfirestorm.com so we can provide the support you need.

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