Software Engineer, Developer - Bazel

Position: Staff Software Engineer, Developer Experience - Bazel
THE COMPANY

Saildrone is a maritime defense company and the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). With more ocean miles and real-world operational experience than any USV manufacturer or operator, Saildrone maintains active, combat-deployed systems supporting national security and force projection around the world, 24/7/365.

Saildrone's manufacturing and R&D headquarters are located in Alameda, CA, with business development and sales operations in Washington, DC, and deployment hubs in Europe and the Middle East. By combining proven autonomous operations, edge computing, advanced sensing, renewable power, and the most advanced and robust unmanned surface technology on the planet, Saildrone is shaping how the Navy of the future operates.

Join a fast-moving, mission-driven team at the forefront of maritime security and autonomous innovation.

THE POSITION

Saildrone is seeking a Staff Engineer, Developer Experience - Bazel who will serve as a technical leader on our Developer Experience team. Reporting to the Director of Software, you will be responsible for driving the adoption, scalability, and health of our Bazel-based build system within our large-scale polyglot monorepo. You will work across engineering teams to improve build correctness, hermeticity, speed, and developer productivity at scale - shaping the build and test infrastructure that engineers across Saildrone depend on every day.

You will split your time between hands-on technical work and managing one direct report, supporting their growth and ensuring effective execution of team goals.

This role is required to be onsite in Alameda, CA in the Bay Area 3 days per week - this is our hybrid model. This is not a remote position.

THE TEAM

The Software Infrastructure & Platform Engineering team is responsible for the systems and tooling that enable Saildrone's software teams to build, test, and deploy reliable software  focus on delivering robust, efficient build and release pipelines that support autonomous systems operating in remote and high-stakes maritime environments. This team's work directly impacts Saildrone's ability to deliver real-time intelligence, maritime domain awareness, and mission-critical capabilities for government and commercial customers.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES

* Bazel Architecture:
Design, evolve, and maintain Bazel-based build systems across our polyglot monorepo to achieve industry-leading build speeds and reliability across the entire Saildrone software stack.

* Build Performance:
Identify and resolve bottlenecks in remote caching, remote execution (RBE), query performance, and incremental builds, ensuring high developer productivity through rigorous monitoring and optimization.

* Adoption & Migration:
Lead efforts to onboard new languages, tool chains, and teams onto Bazel, including writing custom rules, macros, and toolchain configurations using Starlark.

* Cross-Functional Alignment:
Partner with Software Leadership and TPMs to align on requirements and timelines, ensuring seamless integration of build systems with deployment workflows.

* CI Ownership:
Share responsibility for CI systems as a whole alongside the broader Software Infrastructure team, contributing to the reliability, performance, and evolution of pipelines that support the entire Saildrone software stack.

* Standards & Documentation:
Define and document standards for BUILD file authorship, dependency management, and Bazel hygiene to ensure knowledge sharing and maintainable, high-quality build configurations across the engineering organization.

* Technical Troubleshooting:
Diagnose and resolve complex technical blockers, including dependency management issues and build graph correctness problems, implementing durable fixes to prevent recurrence.

* People Management & Mentorship:
Manage one direct report, providing regular 1:1s, career development guidance, and performance feedback, while also serving as the internal subject matter expert on Bazel and build system architecture across the broader engineering organization.

* Ecosystem Engagement:
Stay current with the Bazel roadmap and community; contribute upstream to open-source Bazel rules or tooling where appropriate.

THE QUALIFICATIONS

* 8+ years of software engineering experience, with significant hands-on experience designing or operating large-scale build systems.

* 1+ years of people management experience, including setting goals, delivering performance feedback, and supporting the career development of direct reports.

* Deep expertise with Bazel, including writing custom rules, macros, and toolchain integrations using Starlark.

* Proven experience supporting Bazel in a large-scale monorepo, managing build graph complexity, dependency boundaries, and cross-team coordination.

* Strong understanding of build correctness concepts: hermeticity, reproducibility, sandboxing, and caching semantics.

* Experience with remote caching and remote execution (e.g., Build Buddy, Eng Flow, Buildbarn, or similar…