Release Engineering Lead

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>Network Optix</strong> (Nx) is a global powerhouse in video software development, driven by a mission to empower the creation of intelligent video-based solutions and products capable of converting video into actionable data. Over a decade in the making, the Network Optix Enterprise Video Operating System helps innovative organizations rapidly and affordably build world-class, custom-tailored, enterprise-scale video products and solutions.</p> <p>Nx is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, with additional locations in Burbank, California, Portland, Oregon, Belgrade, Serbia, Taipei, Taiwan, and regional teams distributed across the globe. Recognized on the Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list for 9 years running, we are committed to expanding our teams cross-functionally and globally.</p> <p>Network Optix aims to power the world’s most intelligent video solutions, with the ultimate goal of carving a path toward revolutionizing the landscape of video technology and transforming how we perceive the world around us.</p></div><p data-renderer-start-pos="274"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">Purpose of the role</strong></p> <p data-renderer-start-pos="305">Lead cloud release execution, production readiness, and incident coordination across the Nx Cloud platform. This role ensures that every release is executed safely, monitored effectively, and communicated clearly across internal and customer-facing teams. Be the operational bridge between <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Release Engineering, SRE, Support, and Product Engineering</strong>, ensuring that cloud deployments are reliable, transparent, and continuously improving.</p> <p data-renderer-start-pos="743"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">What you’ll be doing:</strong></p> <p><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Release Management</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="783">Own and coordinate <strong data-renderer-mark="true">end-to-end cloud release cycles</strong>, from release readiness and change approvals to deployment and verification.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="914">Facilitate <strong data-renderer-mark="true">release sign-off</strong>, ensuring quality, stability, and risk mitigation before going live.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1014">Partner with engineering and QA to validate build quality and rollback procedures.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1100">Maintain a <strong data-renderer-mark="true">central release calendar, checklists, and change logs</strong>.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1169">Drive <strong data-renderer-mark="true">change management governance</strong> and ensure compliance with release standards.</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1253"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Monitoring &amp; Incident Management</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1289">Collaborate with the SRE team to <strong data-renderer-mark="true">enhance production monitoring, alerting, and observability</strong> for critical services.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1407">Lead <strong data-renderer-mark="true">incident coordination and communication</strong>, ensuring timely resolution and clear updates to stakeholders.<br>Oversee <strong data-renderer-mark="true">post-incident reviews and RCA documentation</strong>, tracking remediation progress.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1602">Proactively identify recurring issues and drive preventive improvements.</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1678"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Operational Readiness &amp; Risk Management</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1721">Ensure environments (test, staging, production) are release-ready and well-maintained.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1811">Support environment stability by coordinating with SRE and QA for timely updates and access management.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1918">Lead <strong data-renderer-mark="true">risk assessment for releases</strong>, including rollback and contingency plans.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="1998">Partner with support and customer success teams to ensure <strong data-renderer-mark="true">customer impact visibility and communication</strong>.</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2105"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Tooling &amp; Process Improvement</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2138">Collaborate with Release Engineering and SRE on <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Argo-based deployment tools</strong> and CI/CD improvements.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2241">Identify automation opportunities to streamline release and monitoring workflows.<br>Contribute to documentation, playbooks, and training for new release procedures.</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2407"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Cross-Team Communication</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2435">Provide <strong data-renderer-mark="true">real-time release status updates</strong> to leadership, engineering, and support teams.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2526">Ensure consistent <strong data-renderer-mark="true">post-release summaries</strong> and stakeholder reporting.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2597">Act as the primary communication bridge between engineering, SRE, and customer-facing teams during releases and incidents.<br><br></p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2724"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">What we’re looking for:</strong></p> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2738"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Experience</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2752">10+ years in Release Management, SRE, or DevOps operations roles (give examples of roles) for cloud platforms</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2865">Proven experience managing production releases and incident response in a SaaS or distributed environment.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2975">Hands-on experience operating <strong data-renderer-mark="true">hybrid infrastructures</strong>, combining <strong data-renderer-mark="true">cloud-based Kubernetes (EKS)</strong> with <strong data-renderer-mark="true">on-premise services</strong> (e.g., relays and mediators) deployed using <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Ansible</strong> and <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Docker Compose</strong> on providers such as <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Datapacket</strong>.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3200">Hands-on experience with <strong data-renderer-mark="true">AWS Athena</strong> (to analyze ALB logs).</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3262"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Technical skills</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3282"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">Kubernetes, GitOps, ArgoCD, Jenkins, Terraform, or similar CI/CD tooling</strong>.</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3359"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">Ansible</strong> and <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Docker Compose</strong></p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3389">Proficiency with Jira</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3414"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Knowledge</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3427">Strong understanding of <strong data-renderer-mark="true">AWS (EKS/ECS, IAM, CloudWatch, Lambda, S3, EC2)</strong>; familiarity with <strong data-renderer-mark="true">GCP/Azure</strong></p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3530">Strong understanding of <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Kubernetes (EKS)</strong> and <strong data-renderer-mark="true">service mesh deployment, operation, and lifecycle management</strong>, including <strong data-renderer-mark="true">zero-downtime upgrades</strong> and version rollouts (e.g., <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Istio</strong>, <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Gloo</strong>, <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Ambassador</strong>, or <strong data-renderer-mark="true">Traefik</strong>).</p> </li> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3739">Knowledge of <strong data-renderer-mark="true">monitoring and alerting systems</strong> (Grafana, Prometheus, ELK, NetData, OpsGenie).</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3834"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">- Education</strong></p> <ul class="ak-ul" data-indent-level="1"> <li> <p data-renderer-start-pos="3847">Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience</p> </li> </ul> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2183">&nbsp;</p> <p data-renderer-start-pos="2165"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">What we offer:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Competitive compensation &nbsp;</li> <li>Paid time off&nbsp;</li> <li>Flexible working hours</li> <li>On-site (hybrid) work in our brand-new comfortable office</li> <li>Employer-sponsored health coverage</li> <li>Working with top industry experts in our international team</li> </ul> <p>The position is ideally a hybrid role in one of our offices located in Burbank, CA , Walnut Creek, CA and Portland, OR.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Please note:</strong>&nbsp;<em>We do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters or staffing agencies. Any unsolicited resumes sent to our employees or submitted to our careers page or job postings without a formal agreement in place will be considered property of Network Optix, and no fees will be paid in the event that candidate is hired by the company.</em></p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="title">Base pay range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$180,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$230,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>Network Optix is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We celebrate the diversity of our workforce, which includes people of all cultural, national, racial, gender identities, and those who have served in the military. We strive for an environment where creativity and collaborative growth thrive. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.networkoptix.com/ccpa-disclosure-notice">CCPA disclosure notice</a></p></div>