BUILD ENGINEER JOB DESCRIPTION

Every failed merge, broken pipeline, or blocked release costs a development team hours it cannot recover. Build Engineers prevent that loss by owning the systems that take source code from commit to deployable artifact. AAA game studios and enterprise software organizations alike structure their delivery around this function, and the role demands working fluency in both version control architecture and CI/CD runtime behavior. Reliability here is measured at the pipeline level.

As the Build Engineer, you keep every development team in the organization shipping on schedule by designing, operating, and continuously improving the build and release infrastructure that carries code from repository to production. Your work spans build farm administration, automated pipeline development, and cross-team technical liaison, with scope defined by the number of active products and release cadences you support.

Career Impact: Deep ownership of CI/CD architecture and release pipeline design builds specialized expertise that is in high demand across enterprise software, game development, and platform engineering markets.

Business Impact: Development teams across the organization depend on the reliability of the build systems you maintain, when pipelines degrade, sprint velocity and release commitments degrade with them.

Growth Opportunity: Hands-on experience architecting build farms, defining branching strategies, and automating deployment workflows creates a direct path toward senior DevOps engineering or platform engineering leadership.

• Design and maintain the CI/CD pipeline infrastructure that automates build, test, and deployment workflows across multiple platforms.
• Manage release branches, build tagging, and repository configuration to support stable, repeatable integration cycles.
• Investigate and resolve build failures by identifying root causes and implementing preventive improvements to pipeline stability.
• Develop internal tooling and automation scripts that improve code velocity and reduce friction in the developer workflow.
• Collaborate with development and QA teams on release planning, patch coordination, and environment configuration to meet delivery schedules.
• Enforce build standards and best practices through peer code review and documentation of build system processes.
• Monitor build system health, respond to incidents, and drive continuous improvements to uptime and throughput.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 3 or more years of build engineering, release engineering, or configuration management experience, with demonstrated ownership of CI/CD systems.
• Proficiency in at least one compiled language and one scripting language used to develop and maintain build tooling.
• Experience administering version control systems, including branching, merging, tagging, and access configuration.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex build and environment failures across Linux and Windows platforms.
• Familiarity with software configuration management principles, including dependency management and artifact versioning.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for documenting processes and coordinating with cross-functional engineering teams.

• Experience in a game development studio or operating build farms for live-service titles with frequent update cadences.
• Background working with mobile platform build processes, including code signing workflows for iOS and Android.
• Familiarity with agile or Scrum delivery models and their impact on branch management and integration frequency.
• Experience integrating static analysis or automated test execution into CI pipelines as part of a quality gate.

• Pipeline uptime rate, reflecting the percentage of build infrastructure available and operational during working hours.
• Mean time to resolution for build failures, measuring how quickly blocked developers are unblocked after an incident.
• Build cycle time, tracking elapsed time from code commit to deployable artifact across active projects.
• Release deployment success rate, indicating the proportion of deployments completed without rollback or manual intervention.
• Code signing and packaging error rate for managed platforms, reflecting process reliability across release types.
• Typical tools: version control systems (commonly Git or Perforce); CI/CD platforms (commonly Jenkins or TeamCity); scripting environments (commonly Groovy, Python, or shell).

• Base Salary Range: $110,000 to $150,000 annually, depending on experience and location
• Bonus: Annual performance bonus, typically 8 to 12% of base salary
• Equity: RSUs or stock options common at growth-stage and public technology companies
• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer contribution varies by company size
• PTO: 15 to 20 days annually, plus company holidays; unlimited PTO policies increasingly common
• Common Perks: Remote or hybrid flexibility, home office stipend, professional development budget, and access to internal game or software products

Figures are estimates based on general US market benchmarks and may be outdated. Adjust based on location, company size, and seniority level.

Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Candidates requiring a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process are encouraged to make that request in advance. Any offer of employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.

The Build Engineer owns the continuous integration, automated testing, and deployment automation pipeline, driving improvements to developer experience and code velocity across the engineering organization. Working alongside cross-functional teams, this role delivers measurable gains in CI/CD efficiency and reliability by leading technology adoption and resolving build failures before they impact production.

Key Responsibilities

• Support and improve tools for continuous integration, automated testing, and deployment automation.
• Lead the adoption of updated technologies to increase CI/CD efficiency and reliability.
• Manage release branches and maintain the build process to support continuous integration.
• Investigate and debug engineering and build failures, driving improvements.
• Design and develop solutions to improve developer experience and code velocity to production.
• Assist in other areas of the department and company as necessary.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent work experience.
• 3+ years of experience in software engineering, release engineering, or configuration management.
• 3+ years of experience developing tools using Java, JavaScript, JSON, SQL, Ant, or scripting languages.
• Familiarity with software configuration management and source code version control systems.
• Experience administering and using CI/CD and build tools such as Ant, Maven, Gradle, and Jenkins.
• Experience with scripting languages including Groovy, PowerShell, cmd, and shell.
• Experience setting up, configuring, and maintaining Tomcat.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, organizational, and teamwork skills.

Embedded within the Mobility Center of Excellence, the Build Engineer maintains, develops, integrates, and enhances the build-related tools that development and delivery teams depend on daily, covering iOS and Android platforms. Working closely with the development team, this role integrates new features into the build and release process and manages the full application code signing and repository lifecycle to keep mobile delivery pipelines operating reliably.

Core Functions

• Manage build configurations, project repositories, and dependent systems including the internal application store.
• Integrate new features, components, and assets into the build and release process in collaboration with the development team.
• Create hooks from the repository through continuous integration and onto the Enterprise AppStore.
• Manage and enhance the application code signing process for iOS and Android.
• Manage code repository build tagging, branching, and merging in Git.
• Create and maintain project build and configuration documentation.
• Troubleshoot and resolve build, installation, and configuration issues for Android and iOS.
• Research new technologies and integrate them into existing systems as appropriate.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of experience as a Java, Gradle, or Unix Shell Script developer.
• Experience installing, configuring, and maintaining tools such as Git, GitHub, SonarQube, and Jenkins.
• Experience administering Mac OS, Linux (RHEL), and Windows environments.
• Experience with iOS and Android platforms and tools including Gradle, CocoaPods, and Artifactory.
• Experience working on agile or scrum teams and with IP networking technologies.
• Good interpersonal and professional communication skills.

Reporting to the Overwatch team's engineering leadership, the Build Engineer manages build servers and systems infrastructure across multiple platforms, finding and resolving problems before they affect development velocity. Partnering with service teams across the organization, this role integrates build systems with common platforms and tools to ensure developers can accomplish their day-to-day work efficiently.

Primary Duties

• Develop and manage build applications and systems infrastructure to support building on multiple platforms.
• Engage with service teams across the organization to integrate build systems with common platforms and tools.
• Monitor and respond to build system health incidents and help resolve issues impacting the team.
• Ensure developers can accomplish their day-to-day work efficiently.
• Document build systems and educate engineers on build system functionality and processes.

Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with Perforce or other version control systems.
• Prior experience developing bespoke build systems.
• Strong programming skills in C#, C++, and at least one interpreted language.
• Experience with MySQL, Oracle, or other relational databases.
• Experience with Premake, CMake, or other project generation tools.
• Comfortable with Linux and Windows system administration.
• Live operations experience.
• Service-oriented attitude with a passion for tools development and ability to work across disciplines.

Sitting at the intersection of engineering and production, the Build Engineer at SpaceX develops novel manufacturing solutions and production procedures that move new products from design into high-volume production. Operating across multidisciplinary teams and operations, this role resolves complex manufacturing defects, drives design for manufacturability, and ensures delivery requirements are met across safety, quality, and efficiency dimensions.

Duties

• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and operations to build parts on schedule.
• Develop and revise production procedures, equipment, tooling, and facility layout.
• Drive design for manufacturing and assembly during new product development cycles.
• Resolve complex manufacturing defects and eliminate root causes.
• Develop, qualify, and refine manufacturing processes to meet safety, quality, efficiency, and delivery requirements.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of design or production experience, including academic projects or internships.
• Experience transitioning products from design to manufacturing and scaling to high volume.
• Experience in high-volume commercial or automotive manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of DOE, gage R&R, process qualifications, SPC, and production data requirements.
• Experience integrating electromechanical or lamination assemblies with manual and automated processes.
• Experience working with ERP, MRP, and MES systems.
• Ability to design tooling and implement automation for high-volume manufacturing.

A key member of the plant engineering team reporting to the Director of Systems, the Build Engineer applies pragmatic manufacturing insight to drive simplicity and cost efficiency into the design and production of green hydrogen plants. Collaborating with component vendors, system integrators, and manufacturing engineering, this role shepherds significant technical projects from design into first builds and hands off the production process with clear documentation and schedule oversight.

Scope of Work

• Collaborate with plant engineering teams, component vendors, and system integrators.
• Create clear and concise work instructions to inform the build process.
• Build, track, and communicate a Gantt chart system fabrication schedule.
• Proactively identify schedule, cost, and technical risks and help develop solutions.
• Provide detailed design-for-manufacturing feedback to the plant engineering team.
• Coordinate and oversee factory acceptance testing of equipment.
• Work closely with Manufacturing Engineering to hand off the production process after first builds.

Requirements

• Degree in Mechanical, Chemical, Aerospace, or a similar engineering discipline.
• 2+ years of industry experience at the intersection of design and manufacturing.
• Experience taking at least one significant technical project from design into production.
• Experience working with outside vendors, contractors, and officials.
• Ability to focus on big-picture goals while managing details and thriving in open-ended environments.
• Ability to provide thoughtful, constructive, and actionable feedback to engineers.
• Startup experience preferred.

The Build Engineer shapes the technical build pipeline and deployment workflows that enable game development teams to hit their delivery goals, working across C# and Groovy to automate and improve the build system. The engineering organization depends on this work to maintain CI best practices, support regular live title updates, and keep releases, updates, and patches on track in collaboration with domain teams and QA.

Key Deliverables

• Assist with development and orchestration of deployment workflows and perform deployments.
• Develop and improve the technical build pipeline in C# and Groovy to automate and drive the build system.
• Work as a technical liaison with development teams to address build issues and improvements.
• Collaborate with domain teams and QA on releases, updates, and patches.
• Maintain industry best practices in DevOps and CI through good coding practices and code reviews.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Previous experience in build engineering at an AAA games studio, including work with consoles and first parties.
• Programming experience in C#, Java, or OOP, with scripting skills in Groovy, Python, bash, or similar.
• Experience with automated build systems such as Jenkins or TeamCity, and version control tools such as Perforce.
• Experience with Ansible, VMware, AWS, ELK stack, Telegraf, Zabbix, and Grafana.
• Experience working with GaaS models or regular live title updates, including next-gen game consoles.
• Must be self-driven and a team player with excellent communication skills and a passion for games.

Embedded within the game engineering organization, the Build Engineer builds and maintains the tools, infrastructure, and automated processes that support AAA game development across internal and external-facing builds. Working closely with engineers, designers, and external partners, this role oversees the full build lifecycle from code review and CI/CD automation through live service support and structured release processes, delivering performance and efficiency improvements at each stage.

Engineering Responsibilities

• Partner with game teams to provide infrastructure assistance and guidance from early product development phases.
• Build and maintain tools and infrastructure supporting AAA game development.
• Create and maintain automated processes for game builds, tools builds, asset exports, code signing, and game packages.
• Create and maintain automated testing environments and build farms.
• Perform peer review of solutions to ensure best practices and internal standards are followed.
• Analyze products for performance and efficiency improvements as part of structured and ongoing release processes.
• Conduct root cause analysis of critical issues and support external partner build issues.

Background & Experience

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 4+ years of experience in software development and system engineering.
• Experience with game development and SDLC processes including code review, release management, and CI/CD automation.
• Proficiency with version control tools such as Perforce and Git, including command-line usage.
• Experience with Jenkins or similar pipeline tools and AWS.
• Experience supporting live service-driven games and working with Unreal Engine.
• Strong troubleshooting skills with a reliable, self-driven approach to taking initiative and owning issues.