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# Expert Engineer

- **Company:** HORIZON 3, LLC
- **Location:** United States (Remote available)
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $229,500.0 - $260,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Code Review, Continuous Integration, Github, Python (Programming Language), Security Software, Shell Script, Software Construction, Software Engineering, Tripwire, Management of Software Versions, Gitlab-ci, Kubernetes, Build Tools, Docker
- **Published:** October 27, 2026
- **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/staff-software-engineer-image-build-release-horizon3-ai-10574376

## About the Role

* 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with deep specialization in build systems, CI/CD, or release engineering for containerized applications
 * Expert-level knowledge of Docker and container image construction - multi-stage builds, base image selection, layer optimization, image hardening
 * Experience with container image signing and verification (Cosign, Notary, or equivalent) and image scanning toolchains (Trivy, Grype, Snyk, or equivalent)
 * Strong track record building and operating CI/CD pipelines at scale (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Tekton, or equivalent)

Systems & Delivery

 * Deep understanding of Kubernetes - how images are pulled, versioned, and updated in running clusters
 * Experience designing and operating OTA or remote update systems - rollout strategies, delta delivery, version negotiation, rollback
 * Proficiency in Go, Python, or shell scripting sufficient to build and maintain pipeline tooling
 * Experience with artifact registries (ECR, GCR, Docker Hub, Harbor) and artifact lifecycle management

Technical Leadership

 * Track record of setting engineering standards that other engineers adopt - not just writing good code but making the right approach the obvious one
 * Ability to produce clear architecture documents and drive technical decisions across team boundaries
 * Experience mentoring mid-level engineers through design and code review, * Experience with secure software supply chain practices (SLSA, SBOM generation, provenance attestation)
 * Background in cybersecurity or building software that runs in sensitive customer environments (on-prem, air-gapped, or regulated industries)
 * Experience with Helm chart packaging and Kubernetes operator patterns
 * Familiarity with eBPF or kernel-level tooling relevant to containerized security software

## Description

The Expert Engineer on the Image Build & Release team is the technical anchor for how NodeZero gets built and delivered to customer environments. NodeZero runs as a container in customer infrastructure - building that image correctly, delivering it reliably, and updating it safely across thousands of deployments is a hard systems problem with direct customer impact. You will set the technical direction for the build pipeline, the image signing and scanning strategy, and the OTA (over-the-air) delivery infrastructure that pushes updates to deployed NodeZero instances.

This is a hands-on staff-level role. You will write code, produce architecture designs, mentor engineers, and own the most consequential technical decisions for how NodeZero is packaged and shipped. The team is building from a strong starting point - you will raise the bar on automation, reliability, and delivery velocity. This role reports to the Client Platform Engineering Manager and works directly with the OTA Services team on the delivery side.

Responsibilities

 * Build Pipeline Architecture: Design and own the CI/CD pipeline that produces NodeZero container images - from source to signed, scanned artifact ready for distribution
 * Image Integrity & Security: Define the image hardening, CVE scanning, and signing strategy that ensures NodeZero images meet security and compliance requirements before they ship
 * OTA Delivery Infrastructure: Partner with the OTA Services team to design the delivery mechanism that pushes image updates to customer-deployed NodeZero instances reliably and safely - including rollout strategy, rollback, and version pinning
 * Release Engineering Standards: Set standards for build reproducibility, artifact versioning, and release gating that the full Client Platform team follows
 * Mentorship: Mentor P4 engineers through code review, design review, and architectural pairing; be the person the team turns to when they hit a hard systems problem
 * Operational Excellence: Own the build and release infrastructure end-to-end - on-call for pipeline failures, build time regressions, and delivery incidents