DevOps Engineer at Heads Up Technologies – Kirkland, Washington

This position must be performed onsite in Kirkland, WA.

At Heads Up Technologies, we’re redefining what’s possible in the air. Since our beginnings in a Dallas hangar in 1985, we’ve grown into a global leader in aviation technology driven by innovation, precision, and a relentless pursuit of better in-flight experiences. From pioneering digital audio and lighting systems to uniting with STG Aerospace and ALTO Aviation under one brand, we continue to lead the way in cabin systems integration for business and commercial aircraft. Join us as we shape the future of aviation where lighting, entertainment, safety, and audio come together to elevate every journey.

The Innovative Advantage team specializes in high-performance embedded audio, video, and data distribution systems for private jet aircraft. Our team is dedicated to innovation, creating seamless in-flight entertainment and connectivity solutions that make air travel more enjoyable. We take pride in enabling the ultimate passenger experience by delivering reliable, high-quality products trusted by industry leaders.

About the role

We're looking for a DevOps Engineer to improve and maintain the developer tooling, CI/CD pipelines, and test infrastructure that our embedded software, firmware, and FPGA teams rely on every day.

Your immediate focus will be leading a version control migration to Git/GitHub, building out GitHub Actions workflows on self-hosted runners, and standing up hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test infrastructure for embedded audio/video products.

This is a hands-on role for an engineer who enjoys making other engineers more productive — streamlining builds, automating tests, and removing friction from the development process.

Key Details

• Location: This is a full-time onsite position located in Kirkland, WA.
• Compensation: $115,000 to $145,000 per year
• Work Eligibility: Must be a U.S. Citizen and authorized to work in the United States.

What you'll do

Immediate Priorities

• Build and maintain GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows for embedded software, firmware, and FPGA builds across Windows, Linux, and Xilinx toolchains.
• Deploy and manage self-hosted GitHub Actions runners (on-prem and/or cloud) to support embedded build and test workloads that require specific toolchains, hardware access, or long-running jobs.
• Design and deploy on-prem hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test systems for automated regression testing of embedded audio/video products, including fixture orchestration, instrument control, and result reporting.
• Stand up an artifact repository for managing build outputs, binary assets, and firmware images.
• Lead the migration from legacy version control (SVN) to Git/GitHub, including repository structure, branching strategy, and team onboarding.

• Evaluate and integrate tools that improve developer productivity across embedded and FPGA workflows.
• Provision, configure, and maintain build and test servers — including runner scaling, OS imaging, and toolchain installation.
• Develop and maintain a package management system for embedded software distribution.
• Define and implement Infrastructure-as-Code solutions for build servers, runners, test rigs, and development environments.
• Optimize compute and storage resources across CI/CD, runners, and HIL testing infrastructure.

• Identify bottlenecks across engineering workflows and propose scalable improvements.
• Mentor engineers in Git, GitHub Actions, automation, and DevOps best practices.
• Conduct code reviews for build scripts, deployment pipelines, and automation components.
• Maintain documentation for build, test, and deployment processes.
• Establish metrics for build performance, test coverage, and pipeline reliability.

What will make you successful in this role (skills)

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of DevOps or automation experience, including:
• Version control systems (Git required; SVN migration experience a plus)
• CI/CD pipeline development (GitHub Actions strongly preferred)
• Self-hosted runner or build agent deployment and management
• Automated testing frameworks and infrastructure
• Package management and software distribution
• Strong scripting and automation skills (Python, Bash, or similar).
• Experience working in embedded systems development environments.
• Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and maintain automated build and test systems.
• Hands-on experience building or maintaining hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or automated hardware test infrastructure.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading version control migrations (SVN to Git).
• Experience with FPGA development workflows (especially Xilinx).
• Experience designing HIL test rigs, including fixture design, instrument control, and test orchestration.
• Familiarity with artifact repository systems (JFrog Artifactory, Nexus, GitHub Packages).
• Background in audio/video systems or high-performance embedded

Technical Skills

Core DevOps & Automation

• Github Actions
• Self-hosted Runner Management
• Linux
• Docker
• Python/Bash
• Ansible

Embedded & FPGA Support

• GNU Make
• CMake
• Xilinx toolchains
• Yocto
• Proprietary toolchains

Testing & Artifact Management

• Hardware- in-the-loop infrastructure
• Test Fixture Orchestration
• Automated Regression Testing
• Artifact repositories

Perks and Benefits

• A competitive compensation package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Opportunities to plan for the future with our 401(k) program.
• Paid Time Off - Take the well-deserved time off you need.
• Life Insurance - Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with life insurance coverage.
• Health and wellness benefits including Health Savings Account (HSA) option.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development within the company.
• Positive and inclusive work culture with a laid-back work environment that promotes a healthy work-life balance.
• Flexibility in your schedule to accommodate personal needs.

Why Join Us?

• Force Multiplier: Our embedded, firmware, and FPGA engineers are overdue for real tooling support. You won't be maintaining someone else's CI — you'll be the first person dedicated to making the entire engineering org faster and more reliable.
• Real Authority: You'll architect the build, test, and artifact infrastructure from the ground up and own the decisions on how it scales across dozens of embedded product targets.
• Tangible Impact: Faster builds, fewer broken integrations, automated regression — the engineers will feel the difference immediately. This is high-visibility work with a short feedback loop.
• Breadth of Problem Space: Our products span FPGA, embedded Linux, firmware, and desktop tooling. The infrastructure you design has to work across all of them — it's a genuine systems-design challenge.
• Technical Excellence: Work with experts in embedded systems, audio/video distribution, and aviation technology.

• Innovative Culture: Be part of a team that values curiosity, continuous learning, and creative problem-solving.
• Meaningful Projects: Contribute to next-generation in-flight entertainment and data systems used in luxury aircraft.
• Professional Growth: Expand your skills through mentorship, hands-on development, and exposure to a wide range of technologies.
• Competitive Compensation: Enjoy a compensation package that reflects your experience and contributions.