Description:

At Sift, we are redefining how modern machines are built, tested, and operated, providing engineers with real-time observability over high-frequency telemetry.
Our platform eliminates bottlenecks and enables faster, more reliable development.
Sift was founded by a team from SpaceX, Google, and Palantir, and is built for mission-critical systems where precision and scalability are essential.
As an early engineer at Sift, you will not only write code but also help define the architecture, shape the product, and influence the company culture.
In this role, you will design, build, and maintain scalable, resilient infrastructure solutions to support our growing platform and customer base.
You will collaborate with software engineers to optimize application performance and reliability.
You will implement monitoring, alerting, and logging systems to ensure proactive identification and resolution of issues.
You will automate deployment processes and streamline infrastructure management using modern DevOps tools and methodologies.
You will evolve our backend architecture/infrastructure for both cloud and on-premise deployments.
You will work with the team to set and prioritize our roadmap to maximize customer impact.
You will lead initiatives to improve infrastructure reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.

Requirements:

You must have 3+ years of relevant distributed systems experience focusing on designing and managing cloud-based environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
You should have hands-on experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and container orchestration platforms.
A passion for building and operating developer productivity tools, frameworks, and other aspects of platform engineering is essential.
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and version control systems is required.
You should have knowledge of automated testing best practices and frameworks, ensuring software reliability through integration, performance, and end-to-end testing in distributed systems.
You must be excited by the ambiguity and high-ownership culture of early-stage startups.
You should be pragmatic, solution-oriented, and scrappy.
Enjoying collaborative work with a broad range of job functions and roles is important.
Experience with our tech stack, including Go, Java, React, TypeScript, Kafka/Redpanda, Flink, AWS, Azure, GCP, Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform/CDK, or equivalent distributed systems is required.
Good knowledge of cloud, on-prem, networking, and service architecture in multi-region multi-cloud setups is necessary.

The salary range for this position is $150,000 - $200,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.
Sift's headquarters is located in El Segundo, CA, and we collaborate in person twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.
We come together for a full week every two months, fostering team collaboration.
While we prefer local candidates, we are open to relocating candidates to LA or considering remote work from the San Francisco area for the right candidate.
Eligibility requires being a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual in compliance with ITAR/EAR regulations.

Skills