How to apply for Software Engineer (Build Infrastructure)

About Glydways

Glydways builds autonomous transit networks using standardized vehicles on dedicated roadways. The system runs 24/7 with on-demand access and aims to be carbon-neutral and affordable compared to traditional transit infrastructure. The company is backed by a clear public-benefit goal: net-negative greenhouse gas impact and lower taxpayer subsidies.

About the role

This role sits on the Developer Platform team within Software Foundations and Architecture. You will build and maintain the infrastructure that lets all developers track, build, deploy, and operate Glydways software. That includes the build system, AI and local developer tools, change submission and deployment tools, and the cloud infrastructure behind them.

A typical day

You might start by checking build and deployment pipelines for failures, then spend time improving a build system or developer tool based on team feedback. Later you could review infrastructure changes, test a new local development workflow, or work with another team to unblock a deployment issue. The job description does not specify daily routines, so ask about on-call expectations and typical sprint work during interviews.

Who Glydways is looking for

• Has hands-on experience building or maintaining CI/CD pipelines and build systems at scale.
• Is comfortable with cloud infrastructure and can reason about reliability, cost, and developer experience tradeoffs.
• Has worked on internal developer platforms, tooling, or infrastructure that other engineers depend on daily.
• Can collaborate across teams to understand developer pain points and turn them into tooling improvements.

Tips for this application

• Lead with concrete examples of build systems or CI/CD infrastructure you have owned, not just used.
• Name specific tools and cloud platforms you have worked with in your resume bullets, since the job description lists build systems and cloud infrastructure as core responsibilities.
• Connect your infrastructure work to developer productivity outcomes, such as reduced build times or fewer deployment failures.
• Mention any experience with AI developer tools or local development environments, since the team explicitly supports those.
• Reference Glydways' transit model and explain why infrastructure reliability matters for a 24/7 autonomous transit system.

What to cover in your cover letter

['A specific build system or CI/CD pipeline you designed or improved, with measurable results.', 'How you have supported other developers through platform or tooling work.', 'Your experience with cloud infrastructure and how you think about cost and reliability.', 'Why you want to work on infrastructure for a physical, safety-critical transit system rather than a generic software product.']

Research before applying

• Glydways' technical architecture: how the dedicated roadways, autonomous vehicles, and on-demand routing work together.
• The company's funding, partners, and any pilot or deployment cities mentioned publicly.
• What 'net-negative GHG' means in the context of their transit system and how they measure it.
• Any public engineering blog posts, talks, or open-source work from Glydways or its team.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would design or improve a build system for a growing engineering team.
• Your approach to CI/CD for software that controls or supports autonomous vehicles.
• Tradeoffs between cloud cost, reliability, and developer speed in infrastructure decisions.
• How you would evaluate and integrate AI tools into a local developer workflow.
• How you handle cross-team collaboration when building internal developer platforms.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating this as a generic software engineering role and ignoring the build infrastructure and developer platform focus.
• Listing tools without explaining what you built or changed with them.
• Ignoring the physical transit context and not addressing why infrastructure reliability matters for a 24/7 autonomous system.