Team Lead, ARC Team

scaleai

San Francisco, CA; St. Louis, MO; New York, NY; Washington, DC · San Francisco

Posted Jul 24, 2026

Full-time
Public Sector Engineering

Job description

Scale AI is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Team Lead for our ARC (Architecture, Reliability, & Compute) team supporting our dynamic Public Sector Engineering team. As the lead of this team, you will define how the company ships software, establishing the patterns for deploying into complex government and high-security environments, rather than just running Terraform scripts. You will build and maintain internal CLIs/tools that standardize testing, deployment, environment management and are tools that engineering relies on to prevent downstream breakages. You will execute on automated deployment efforts to pay down tech debt, creating fully functional staging/testing environments, and defining the company's standard for safe deployments. As Team Lead, you will provide mentorship for the rest of the team and manage their performance while also guiding the technical direction of the team.

You will:

Design and implement secure scalable backend systems for Public Sector customers, leveraging Scale's modern and cloud-native AI infrastructure.
Provide mentorship to and manage the performance of the other team members
Own services or systems and define their long-term health goals, while also improving the health of surrounding components.
Re-architect the stack to run in compliant or restrictive environments. This requires designing swappable components (auth, storage, logging) to meet government/security mandates without breaking the product.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and execute the vision for backend solutions, ensuring they meet the unique needs of government agencies operating in secure environments.
Participate actively in customer engagements, working closely with stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver innovative solutions.
Contribute to the platform roadmap and product strategy for Scale AI's Public Sector business, playing a key role in shaping the future direction of our offerings.

Must have:

At least an active secret clearance. This is a requirement and candidates will not be considered who do not hold at least a secret clearance

Ideally you'd have:

Full Stack Development: Proficiency in both front-end and back-end development, including experience with modern web development frameworks, programming languages, and databases. Experience with developing & delivering software to air-gapped & isolated environments is a plus.
Cloud-Native Technologies: Understanding of containerization (e.g., Docker) and container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes) is desired. Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and experience in developing and deploying applications in a cloud-native environment.
Security Focused: Experience with Federal Compliance frameworks, and requirements(e.g, Cloud SRG, FedRAMP, STIG Benchmarks, etc). Experience developing software & technical solutions that meet strict security & regulatory compliance requirements.
Problem Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to understand complex challenges and devise effective solutions. Ability to think critically, identify root causes, and propose innovative approaches to overcome technical obstacles.
Collaboration and Communication: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers. Ability to clearly articulate technical concepts to non-technical audiences and foster a collaborative work environment.
Adaptability and Learning Agility: Willingness to embrace new technologies, learn new skills, and adapt to evolving project requirements. Ability to quickly grasp and apply new concepts and stay up-to-date with emerging trends in software engineering.
Must be able to support work 3 days a week from the DC, SF, NYC, or STL office.

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York is:

$252,000—$362,000 USD

$227,200—$326,000 USD

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of St Louis is:

$188,800—$272,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.

PLEASE NOTE: We collect, retain and use personal data for our professional business purposes, including notifying you of job opportunities that may be of interest and sharing with our affiliates. We limit the personal data we collect to that which we believe is appropriate and necessary to manage applicants’ needs, provide our services, and comply with applicable laws. Any information we collect in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our internal policies and programs designed to protect personal data. Please see our privacy policy for additional information.