Senior Platform / Build Engineer - Nix

This position is based in either Marina Del Rey (LA) or San Francisco onsite. We are open to connecting with local candidates and those open to relocation.

About Revel
Revel is building the software infrastructure that controls the world's most critical hardware systems — across aerospace, energy, robotics, defense, and advanced manufacturing. Our platform replaces outdated tooling with a modern, high-performance stack for commanding, monitoring, and deploying real-world systems. Engineers rely on Revel to operate hardware where safety, speed, reliability, and clarity matter. As we scale, we are tackling complex data challenges around ingesting and analyzing large volumes of high-frequency, high-cardinality telemetry.

Role Overview
Revel's engineering team has rebuilt its software build system on Nix and is just getting started. We're extending that investment into NixOS and a broader Nix-based deployment and CI platform. As we scale, our platform growth depends on efficient, reliable, and high-signal testing and verification strategy that leverages a large compute pool — and our deployment tooling is one of the most important problems left to solve in order to keep shipping reliably as the team grows. Revel will deploy workloads into the cloud as well as on-premise installations embedded within customer networks across the globe.

We're looking for a Senior Platform/Build Engineer (Nix) to join our Software Platform team and help us ship code into production with zero-downtime deployments, while keeping engineers fast and productive in the meantime. You'll work alongside our existing Nix lead and the broader platform team on the build, test, CI, and deployment pipeline end-to-end. You'll have real influence over how we manage and scale our compute infrastructure as demand grows.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain Nix-native CI and deployment pipelines that take code from commit to production with zero-downtime deploys.

• Maintain and improve our internal package set to enable software distribution across the company and to our customers, and drive adoption of NixOS across our infrastructure.

• Own and optimize our CI compute pool — improve pipeline throughput, identify and resolve bottlenecks, and manage resource allocation across a growing, compute-intensive test and verification workload.

• Partner with engineering leadership on hardware capacity planning and infrastructure procurement as compute needs scale.

• Improve developer ergonomics around Nix — tooling, documentation, standards, and workflows that keep engineers productive.

• Define and evolve our deployment strategy, including how software is delivered to customers across multiple regions and markets.

• Operate and support high-consequence, customer-facing production systems with rigor and care.

• Provide mentorship and Nix expertise to the broader engineering org as the platform team grows.

Must-Have Experience

• 5+ years building internal developer platforms, build systems, or CI/CD infrastructure.

• Hands-on experience with a Nix-based build system or comparable for a real product with real customers.

• Proven experience delivering software reliably for a live system with a large user base, including zero-downtime deployment practices.

• Experience managing high-consequence systems where reliability and correctness directly impact customers.

• Experience owning and optimizing a large CI system and compute pool — resource management, pipeline performance, and bottleneck analysis.

• Deep understanding of how build systems and packaging ecosystems work (Nix, Nixpkgs, NixOS, or comparable systems such as Bazel).

• Experience with infrastructure-as-code and configuration management tooling (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, Chef, Salt).

• Experience managing and owning cloud infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure) or on-premise hardware systems.

• Ability to take a vaguely-defined infrastructure problem, break it down, and ship a solution.

Nice to Have

• Experience with NixOS in production (not just Nix for builds/packaging).

• Experience with Bazel or other large-scale build systems.

• Experience with globally distributed deployment and the operational challenges that come with it.

• Experience with hardware/compute procurement and capacity planning.

• Experience scaling platform infrastructure at a fast-growing startup.

• Experience with FedRAMP, ITAR, SOX, or other relevant security/compliance frameworks.

• Knowledge of the Nix packaging ecosystem and/or the NixOS module system.

• Familiarity with the build tooling behind one of Revel's core language stacks — e.g., CMake/pkg-config (C++), Cargo/Rustc (Rust), Go, Vite (TypeScript), or setuptools/uv/hatchling (Python).

• Linux fundamentals: kernel and kernel modules, Kconfig, systemd, Secure Boot, and system hardening.

• Experience with Linux on embedded targets.

Why Revel

• Work on systems that support real-world hardware operations.

• Tackle challenging problems in large-scale data infrastructure.

• High ownership and impact within a fast-moving engineering team.

• Opportunity to help shape the future of our platform.

Join us to redefine what's possible in software for hardware.

Benefits

• Health insurance — We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage to support you and your family.

• 401(k) — Save for your future with our 401(k) plan.

• Equity — All full-time employees receive equity, ensuring that you share in Revel's success and growth.

• Life insurance — Company-paid life insurance gives you and your family peace of mind.

• Parental leave — We offer paid maternity and paternity leave to support new parents.

• Catered lunch — We provide catered lunch five days a week, so you can stay fueled and focused.

• Unlimited PTO — We trust you to take the time you need. Unlimited PTO for all full-time employees.

ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.