
IT / DevSecOps Engineer Contractor at Rain (Alameda, CA)
Rain· Alameda, CA·
Role details
Job description
Rain is looking for a motivated, hands-on early-career or student engineer to help build and support the internal infrastructure that powers our development and operations. This is a part-time, year-round contract role designed for someone who wants real ownership, exposure to production systems, and the chance to grow across software, infrastructure, and security. You’ll work across a mix of developer tooling, infrastructure, networking, and security—helping ensure our systems are reliable, scalable, and secure while improving the day-to-day experience of the engineering team. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys figuring things out, automating repetitive work, and getting systems to run cleanly and predictably.
What You’ll Work On
- Improve and maintain developer tooling and build systems (CI/CD pipelines, build automation, dependency management)
- Package and deploy software for testing, simulation, and internal use
- Support and evolve internal infrastructure including servers, virtualization environments, and storage systems
- Help manage networking and security infrastructure (VPNs, firewalls, switching, routing)
- Contribute to infrastructure-as-code and reproducible system deployments
- Assist with endpoint and device management systems
- Help maintain security posture and support compliance efforts (e.g., NIST 800-171, CMMC)
- Troubleshoot and resolve day-to-day IT and infrastructure issues
What We’re Looking For
Approximately 16–20 hours per week during the academic year, with some flexibility based on workload and availability Currently enrolled student or recent graduate in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, IT, or related field Solid understanding of fundamental concepts in:
- - Linux systems and basic system administration
- Networking (TCP/IP, routing, DNS, VPNs)
- Software development workflows (Git, builds, debugging)
- Comfort working in a command-line environment
- Interest in infrastructure, automation, and security
- We value hands-on experience (home labs, side projects, open source) far more than prior exposure to any specific tools or technologies
- Ability to learn quickly and work independently with minimal supervision
- Strong problem-solving mindset and attention to detail
Nice to Have (Not Required)
- Experience with CI/CD systems, build tools, or packaging systems
- Familiarity with virtualization or containerization
- Exposure to infrastructure-as-code or configuration management tools
- Basic understanding of security principles and best practices
- Experience with home labs, personal projects, or tinkering with systems
Work Environment
- Primarily remote
- Approximately 5 hours per week onsite for hands-on infrastructure work
Requirements
- Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident)
- Must be able to pass a background check
Why This Role
This is not a ticket-queue IT role. You’ll be working on real systems that matter, with opportunities to:
- Create and improve infrastructure components
- Learn modern DevSecOps practices in a practical environment
- Build skills across software, systems, and security
- Make a tangible impact on how engineers build and ship products If you’re curious, resourceful, and want to grow into a DevSecOps or infrastructure-focused engineering role, we’d love to hear from you.
Legal Notice This role involves access to information governed by U.S. export control laws. To comply, applicants must qualify as a “U.S. Person” (U.S. Citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee). Employment offers are contingent upon meeting these requirements
Why work at Rain
- Mission-driven culture: Directly tackling the urgent problem of catastrophic wildfires, protecting lives and communities
- Small, nimble team: Real ownership and immediate impact; employees work across the full stack and see results in the field
- Unique environment: Office located in Alameda, CA (across bay from San Francisco), with a firehouse shop for personal projects, go-kart track in the back lot, and panoramic views of the Bay
- On-site role: All engineering roles are on-site at Alameda; some travel for testing (approx 15% per year)
- Benefits: 401(k), free lunch, great health insurance, ping pong table, unlimited/minimum time off policy
- Culture values: Diversity & inclusion (explicitly stated), collaboration across small team, high autonomy and ownership, safety-critical engineering rigor
- Growth opportunity: Early-stage company with significant technical challenges; hands-on work with cutting-edge autonomy, perception, and aerospace systems
- Satisfying work: Engineers see their code deployed in real flight tests and actual firefighting missions