Staff Site Reliability Engineer

Summary

Join our team at Crisis Text Line as we transform mental health support with innovative technology and a dynamic culture.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (Master's degree preferred)
• Proven experience as a Staff SRE or in a similar SRE role, with experience in observability and chose engineering. strong focus on infrastructure and DevOps in a software delivery capacity
• Experience maintaining the reliability of online SaaS/PaaS with a 7/24 schedule
• Proficiency in AWS and infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation)
• Strong scripting and automation skills (e.g., Python) and in-depth knowledge of containerization and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes)
• Proven experience in implementing CI/CD pipelines and tools (GIthub Actions) and observability tools (Datadog)
• A commitment to ethical practices, data privacy, and security
• Solid understanding of network protocols, security principles, and best practices
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work under pressure, with strong communication skills to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
• Ability to learn quickly and manage your time successfully by focusing on priorities, delivering on deadlines, and asking for help when needed
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
• Demonstrates an understanding of essential computer science principles and how to apply them to solve problems. This including basic data structures, control structures and functions

Responsibilities

• Assisting to lead and mentor a team of 5 SREs, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment
• Working closely with the 3 staff in TechOps/Security on enforcement of security best practices across the infrastructure and development processes
• Design, implement, and maintain our highly available and scalable AWS infrastructure that powers our service
• Collaborate with developers to optimize application performance and reliability
• Develop and maintain monitoring, logging, and alerting systems to ensure system health and performance
• Automate repetitive tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual intervention
• Respond to and resolve incidents, minimizing downtime and ensuring quick recovery
• Support and encourage a diversity of backgrounds, voices, and perspectives on the engineering team
• Proactively communicate expectations, progress, and issues to engineers, product managers, and other colleagues with clarity and kindness, delivering and receiving feedback respectfully
• Spread knowledge, provide mentorship, and promote technical best practices
• Learn both independently and from your colleagues, stretch yourself, and grow as an engineer and teammate
• Write and review high-quality, easy-to-read, and testable code that follows best practices
• Manage time successfully by focusing on priorities, delivering on deadlines, and asking for help when stuck
• Providing engineering input and estimating work both during refinement and architecture design
• Participate in retrospectives and post-mortems to improve our processes and operations
• Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments, addressing any identified issues
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies, recommending and implementing improvements as needed

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Experience implementing Failure Injection / Chaos Engineering practices
• Cloud Solution Architect certifications or completed training (e.g. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials and/or AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate) GCP or Azure
• Strong experience with AWS Solution Architecture across Next.js, Go, PHP APIs, GraphQL, Databricks, and AI/ML workloads
• Knowledge of compliance and regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, SOC2, etc.)
• Experience in a non-profit or mission-driven organization

Benefits

• 20 paid holidays including: Federal holidays like Juneteenth and Labor Day Election day Holiday break from Dec 24 through January 1 2 renewal days 2 floating holidays
• Flexible paid time off, including: 15 vacation days 3 personal days 7 sick days
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits for the staff member and family at no cost to the employee
• 403B retirement plan (the nonprofit equivalent of a 401K): 3% contribution by Crisis Text Line to support building financial wellness, regardless of personal contribution
• 12 weeks paid parental leave (after 6 months of employment)
• Student loan repayment (after 2 years of continuous full time service)
• Family support through a virtual childcare platform
• Stipends/Allowances Mental health (Monthly) Internet Service (Monthly) Professional Development (Annual) Wellness (Annual) Home office setup (One time/First year)