Release Sustaining Engineer

Role: Release Sustaining Engineer

Location : NYC 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Own branch cuts and release-candidate build qualification against the agreed RC matrix and blocking criteria.
• Cherry-pick and backport approved fixes to stable and LTS branches; verify each backport doesnt regress its target branch.
• Track production defect escapes; support the five-whys process and ensure a regression test is added for every escape.
• Stage P0/P1 fixes for same-day release — work in real-time overlap with the Bug Triage ; Diagnostics Engineer and onsite lead so escalated fixes are qualified and ready without waiting on a handover.
• Maintain the release / cherry-pick matrix as a living, auditable record, not a spreadsheet reconstructed after the fact.
• Flag at-risk release candidates early, days before the cut deadline, rather than at the deadline itself.
• Support automated RC-branch verification tooling as it comes online.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
• 4+ years in release engineering, build engineering, or sustaining engineering for a Linux-based or embedded
platform.
• C, C++, Python, shell scripting and good knowledge of Linux kernel logs, crash dumps, and basic driver-level
debugging.
• Hands-on experience with branch management, cherry-picking, and backport verification across multiple
concurrent stable/LTS branches.
• Working knowledge of CI/build systems and release qualification gates.
• Based in a UTC−5-aligned location, able to work core hours matching US Eastern business hours.

TECHNICAL SKILLS
• Languages & scripting: C++, Python and shell/bash for log parsing, triage automation, and repro scripting.
• Build & release: CI/CD pipelines, release qualification gates, branch and version management across concurrent
stable/LTS lines.
• Source control: Git, cherry-pick and backport workflows, Gerrit code review.
• ChromeOS/Chromium build systems: repo tool, Portage/ebuild-equivalent workflows.
• Languages & scripting: Python and shell/bash for build and release automation.
• Testing: regression test authoring, reproduction-as-code practices, RC-branch verification tooling.