Sr. Software Engineer - Build & Release

The role

This person will manage compilation infrastructure, continuous integration pipelines, and dependency management for large-scale C++ codebases. The role focuses on application software powering satellite systems in Embedded Linux environments.

What you will do

• Design, maintain, and optimize cross-platform build systems using CMake and Bazel.
• Manage and upgrade compiler toolchains and handle complex dependency graphs.
• Own, scale, and secure CI/CD workflows for large-scale C++ applications.
• Diagnose and optimize compilation and linking bottlenecks.
• Ensure seamless cross-compilation across x86 and ARM architectures.
• Support testing in containerized and emulated environments using Docker and QEMU.
• Write tooling and automation scripts in Python and Bash.
• Partner with core C++ developers to improve modular architecture and build reliability.
• Build reproducible and deterministic build and release environments.

Required qualifications

• 3 - 5+ years of experience focused on Build/Release Engineering, Developer Infrastructure, or DevOps supporting complex C++ codebases.
• Advanced proficiency with CMake and GNU Make/Ninja.
• Strong Linux shell and scripting skills, including Bash.
• Strong understanding of the C++ build, compilation, and linking lifecycle.
• Familiarity with modern C++ standards (C++17/20/23).
• Experience managing transitive dependencies and modular build targets.
• Experience working within Linux-based development environments.

Nice to have

• Experience with Embedded Linux build systems such as Yocto or Buildroot.
• Experience with hardware emulation tools such as QEMU and containerization platforms such as Docker.
• Familiarity with GitLab CI workflows.
• Background in embedded software development and/or aerospace systems.
• Experience with distributed build systems such as Bazel remote execution.
• Knowledge of linker internals, symbol visibility, and binary analysis tools such as ldd, nm, objdump, and readelf.
• Familiarity with static and dynamic analysis tooling including Clang-Tidy, AddressSanitizer (ASan), and SonarQube.

Before you apply

• For U.S. Roles: applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
• For U.K. Roles: requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).
• For Canada Roles: Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR

About the company

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth. With Pulsar, Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.