Staff Platform Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 2, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 6, 2026.
About Manifold
Strategy is the act of choosing what to do when you can’t know enough to be sure. Manifold builds software for the people making those decisions on behalf of the United States. The ones whose decisions shape the next decade, not the next quarter.
This work is still done largely by hand, by smart people with slide decks, spreadsheets, and instinct. We think it should be done with better tools. Not tools that make the decisions, but tools that sharpen the judgement of the people responsible for them. Cognitive enhancement, in the literal sense.
About the Role
Manifold is looking for a Staff Platform Engineer to build the secure infrastructure and deployment foundation for our software from the ground up.
You will own the systems that take our application from source code to production across commercial and classified environments. This includes CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, security scanning, deployment architecture, observability, software supply-chain security, and the technical work required to support accreditation and ATO.
This is an early, high-ownership role. You will work closely with our software engineers, customers, and deployment partners to turn a rapidly evolving application into a secure, repeatable, and portable production system.
What You Will Do
Own Manifold’s deployment architecture from first principles: You will design and build the infrastructure that takes our software from source code to production across commercial, unclassified, and classified environments.
Build secure CI/CD and software delivery pipelines: You will automate build, test, security scanning, artifact creation, and deployment, including SAST, DAST, secret scanning, dependency scanning, image scanning, STIG validation, and end-to-end testing.
Turn our infrastructure into a portable, repeatable artifact: You will use Infrastructure-as-Code to make our environments reproducible, auditable, and portable across deployment targets while implementing applicable DISA STIG and NIST 800-53 controls.
Partner directly with external vendors and customers: You will help shepherd Manifold through the ATO process across multiple classification levels, translating accreditation and environment constraints into practical engineering decisions.
Own the security and reliability foundations of the platform: You will establish secrets and PKI management, software supply-chain provenance, artifact promotion, observability, backups, rollback procedures, and incident response practices.
Make engineers faster: You will build developer environments, internal tooling, configuration standards, and deployment workflows that let the application team ship quickly without sacrificing security or reliability.
What We Value
High ownership: Comfortable building systems from first principles
Strong Technical Judgement: Bias towards simple, durable architectures
Hands-On Execution: Rather than purely architectural or managerial ownership
Tolerates ambiguity: Can operate effectively in ambiguous, high stakes environments
Clear Communication: With engineers, external partners, and customers
Analytical Rigor: Attention to operational detail
Required Qualifications
B.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience
5+ years of experience in Platform Engineering, DevSecOps, DevOps, SRE, or related roles
Deep experience deploying and operating cloud software in AWS
Hands-on experience building CI/CD pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins
Strong software engineering fundamentals including testing, version control, debugging, and system design
Proficiency in Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Bash, or similar languages
Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code, preferably Terraform
Experience with Docker and containerized application deployment
Familiarity with Kubernetes or comparable orchestration platforms
Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain technical decisions to customers and stakeholders
Ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance
U.S.-based U.S. citizen
Preferred Qualifications
Active TS/SCI security clearance
Hands-on knowledge of AWS GovCloud, SC2S, or other classified cloud environments
Experience supporting ATO, RMF, STIG implementation, or continuous monitoring
Familiarity with DISA STIGs and NIST 800-53
Proven ability to deploy software into secure, disconnected, or air-gapped environments
Proficiency with observability platforms such as Prometheus and Grafana
Strong understanding of PKI, certificate management, secrets management, and key management
Experience with software supply-chain security, SBOMs, artifact signing, and provenance
Nice To Haves
Experience building a platform or deployment architecture from zero at an early-stage company
Experience taking a prototype application into production
Experience working directly with government or defense customers
Experience designing systems that span multiple security classifications
Experience building internal developer tooling or paved-road deployment workflows
Benefits
401(k) with matching
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
Unlimited PTO
Health & Wellness stipend
Lunch stipend 3 times per week and dinner stipend after 8 p.m.
Company-wide break the last two weeks of the year
Supportive leave of absence including time off for military service, medical events, and parental leave