Principal Platform Engineer (AI)

Location: Rosslyn, VA or Remote; U.S. Citizenship required and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance.

Base salary: $255,000–$280,000 per year, plus bonus and equity.

Company

hirify.global delivers operational intelligence for onboard operational technology across defense, aerospace, and commercial transportation fleets, using databus analytics to detect anomalies, predict failures, and secure critical infrastructure.

What you will do

• Architect and operate release infrastructure and GitOps delivery pipelines using ArgoCD, EKS, GitHub Enterprise, and GitHub Actions.
• Lead artifact security and compliance automation with Harbor, Cosign, Vault Transit Engine, NIST controls, and SBOM generation.
• Support hardware OS image builds with Yocto and Manifold, including delivery to airgapped and edge environments.
• Productionize internal AI gateways, RAG tooling, and developer AI workflows.
• Define technical strategy through RFCs, design documents, architecture reviews, and roadmaps.
• Mentor engineers and provide team leadership or direct people management during transitions and growth.

Requirements

• 10+ years of software or platform engineering experience, including 5+ years managing production infrastructure at scale.
• Experience leading projects, designing architecture, mentoring engineers, and taking on people management responsibilities.
• Hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, ArgoCD, GitHub Actions or Earthly, Terraform or OpenTofu, AWS, and GovCloud.
• Strong background in artifact registries, container signing with Cosign or Sigstore, Vault, and SBOM generation.
• U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience in defense, aerospace, or regulated environments, including NIST 800-53, IL4/IL5, or CMMC.
• Embedded Linux or OS experience with Yocto or SLE Micro and airgapped or edge deployments.
• Experience deploying internal AI or LLM infrastructure, including RAG, model gateways, and governance.
• Scripting proficiency in Go, Python, and Bash.

Culture & Benefits

• Flexible work and remote work policy.
• Bonus program and equity in a fast-growing startup.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and families.
• Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions and employer-paid life and disability insurance.
• Uncapped paid time off and tax-deferred public transit benefits through Metro SmartBenefits.
• Inclusive culture focused on belonging, diversity, and equal opportunity.