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Site Reliability Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Forward

Site Reliability Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$230K - $250K/yr

As our first or early SRE hire you will be building the reliability engineering function at Forward - defining how we think about availability, observability, incident response, and operational ...

Forward

Site Reliability Engineer

Santa Clara, CA

$230K - $250K/yr

As our first or early SRE hire you will be building the reliability engineering function at Forward - defining how we think about availability, observability, incident response, and operational ...

Apple

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

San Diego, CA · On-site

$60.50 - $80.50/hr

We are looking for the right Site Reliability Engineer to help us take our efforts to the next level. In this role, you will help lead our cloud based infrastructure team for Apple's Video Computer ...

Air Apps

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$116K - $200K/yr

The Role As a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) at Air Apps, you will be responsible for ensuring the reliability, availability, and scalability of our systems. You will work at the intersection of ...

Methodic

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$67.25 - $89.25/hr

Methodic is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) to focus on the stability and efficiency of their platform in production. The role involves applying software engineering principles to ensure ...

Apple

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

San Diego, CA

$142K - $263K/yr

As a main contributor to our SRE team you will develop and maintain infrastructure, tooling, and engineering services for cloud based applications. You will be responsible for system bringup ...

Mithril

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

$67 - $89.25/hr

The Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) will contribute to the stability and performance of Mithril's global GPU orchestration platform, building automation and observability tools to ensure reliable ...

3B Staffing LLC

Site Reliability Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site +1

$150K - $250K/yr

Site Reliability Engineer role USC or GC only are considered at this time. San Francisco - Local to Bay area only but role is remote and occasion meeting required Latest update, 03/31/2026: The Site ...

3B Staffing LLC

SRE

San Jose, CA · On-site

$66.75 - $88.75/hr

Application Production Support (SRE - Site Reliability Engineering) with 3+ years - Preferably in ecommerce domain * Hands on experience in any of the UI Frameworks(AngularJS, VueJS etc) - 1+ years

Mithril

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$67.25 - $89.25/hr

The Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) will contribute to the stability and performance of Mithril's global GPU orchestration platform, building automation and observability tools to ensure reliable ...

Obsidian Security

Site Reliability Engineer

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

$67 - $89.25/hr

They are seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to support and maintain the service quality of their SaaS security platform while addressing challenges around scalability and reliability.

Obsidian Security

Site Reliability Engineer

Newport Beach, CA · On-site

$61.25 - $81.50/hr

They are seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to support and maintain the service quality of their customer-facing SaaS security platform, address complex challenges, and collaborate closely with ...

TextNow

Site Reliability Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$67.25 - $89.25/hr

TextNow is the largest provider of free phone service in the nation, and they are seeking a motivated Site Reliability Engineer to own infrastructure and reliability. This role involves designing ...

EarnIn

Site Reliability Engineer

Mountain View, CA · Hybrid

$189K - $232K/yr

As a Site Reliability Engineer, you will strengthen infrastructure, optimize tooling, deepen observability, streamline incident response, and elevate reliability standards. These actions empower ...

Eitacies Inc

Java SRE Engineer

Santa Clara, CA · On-site

$60/hr

Java SRE Engineer Onsite San Francisco Bay Area Infrastructure Engineer (2 Positions) We are looking for an experienced Java SRE / Platform Engineer to support large-scale cloud migrations and ...

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Site Reliability Engineer information

See California salary details

$10

$62

$90

How much do site reliability engineer jobs pay per hour?

As of Jul 26, 2026, the average hourly pay for site reliability engineer in California is $62.91, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $54.09 and $71.88 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

Will SRE be replaced by ai?

Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) focus on maintaining system reliability, automation, and incident response. While AI tools can assist with monitoring and automating routine tasks, SREs' expertise in system design, troubleshooting, and decision-making remains essential, making complete replacement unlikely in the near future.

What Is a Site Reliability Engineer?

A site reliability engineer specializes in site reliability engineering, or SRE, a specific branch of operations first pioneered by Google. You are responsible for ensuring that when a website decides to scale a particular feature for various users to access, it does not break the underlying software or website functions. This means you need to use analytical problem-solving skills to determine how to make specific features on a new software release work on top of existing source code.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Site Reliability Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Site Reliability Engineer, you need a strong background in computer science, systems administration, and software engineering, often supported by a degree in a technical field. Familiarity with cloud platforms (like AWS or GCP), container orchestration (such as Kubernetes), infrastructure as code (Terraform or Ansible), and monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana) is typically expected. Strong problem-solving skills, effective communication, and a proactive mindset help SREs excel at incident management and cross-functional collaboration. These skills are crucial for maintaining system reliability, minimizing downtime, and driving continuous improvement in complex technical environments.

What engineers make $500,000 a year?

Senior-level engineers in high-demand fields such as software engineering, especially those specializing in cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or machine learning, can earn $500,000 or more annually. These roles often require extensive experience, advanced skills, and sometimes stock options or bonuses in addition to base salary.

Is SRE a stressful job?

Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) often work in high-pressure environments to ensure system stability and uptime, which can lead to stressful situations during outages or incidents. The role requires strong problem-solving skills, familiarity with monitoring tools, and sometimes on-call responsibilities, but organizations often implement practices to manage workload and reduce stress.

What are some of the most common challenges Site Reliability Engineers face when balancing system reliability with rapid software delivery?

Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) often navigate the challenge of maintaining highly reliable systems while supporting fast-paced software releases. This involves managing incidents, automating processes to reduce manual toil, and working closely with development teams to embed reliability into the software development lifecycle. SREs must carefully prioritize their efforts between proactive improvements and urgent, reactive fire-fighting. Effective communication and collaboration with both operations and development teams are crucial to ensuring service uptime without slowing down innovation.

What does a site reliability engineer do?

A site reliability engineer (SRE) is responsible for maintaining and improving the reliability, availability, and performance of software systems. They use automation, monitoring tools, and scripting to prevent outages, troubleshoot issues, and ensure systems run smoothly at scale. SREs often collaborate with development teams and may hold certifications in cloud platforms or scripting languages.

What is the difference between Site Reliability Engineer vs DevOps Engineer?

AspectSite Reliability EngineerDevOps Engineer
CredentialsTypically requires a computer science degree, certifications like AWS, Google Cloud, or KubernetesSimilar credentials, often with cloud certifications and scripting skills
Work EnvironmentFocuses on maintaining and improving system reliability, often in large-scale production environmentsWorks on automation, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment processes across development and operations teams
Industry UsageCommon in tech, cloud services, and large-scale enterprise companiesWidely used in software development, cloud, and IT organizations

Both roles require strong technical skills and cloud knowledge, but SREs focus more on system reliability and uptime, while DevOps engineers emphasize automation and deployment processes. They often collaborate but have distinct primary responsibilities.

What is a Site Reliability Engineer?

A Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) is a professional who applies software engineering principles to infrastructure and operations problems. Their primary goal is to create scalable and highly reliable software systems, often bridging the gap between development and IT operations. SREs automate tasks, monitor system health, respond to incidents, and work to improve system reliability and performance. They also help define service level objectives (SLOs) and ensure systems meet customer expectations for uptime and availability.
More about Site Reliability Engineer jobs
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Site Reliability Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Site Reliability Engineer job openings in California as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 93% Full Time, 4% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 7% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $130,847 per year, or $62.9 per hour.
Site Reliability Engineer

Site Reliability Engineer

Forward

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$230K - $250K/yr

Full-time

Posted 11 days ago

Job description

Forward is transforming how the world's most complex networks are managed and secured. Founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, we built the industry's first network digital twin - a mathematically precise model of the production network that gives IT teams unmatched visibility, verification, and agility across every major cloud and vendor environment.
Our customers include global leaders such as Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell, as well as fast-growing enterprises and government agencies. According to IDC, Forward customers realize an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits through improved efficiency and security.
Backed by world-class investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, and Threshold Ventures, Forward offers a people-centric, innovative culture where brilliant minds are shaping the future of network reliability, security, and AI-ready operations.
Forward is looking for a Site Reliability Engineer
About the Role This is not a "keep the lights on" SRE role. As our first or early SRE hire you will be building the reliability engineering function at Forward - defining how we think about availability, observability, incident response, and operational excellence across a complex, distributed SaaS platform. You will work closely with engineering, infrastructure, and product to ensure our platform meets the reliability bar our enterprise customers demand.
If you thrive in environments where you're handed a problem rather than a playbook this role is for you.
What You'll Own
  • Define and drive SRE practices from the ground up - SLOs, SLIs, error budgets, and the frameworks the engineering org will actually use
  • Drive the reliability and operational excellence of the Forward SaaS platform
  • Build and maintain observability infrastructure - logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting - so the team always knows what's happening before customers do
  • Lead incident response: on-call rotations, runbooks, post-mortems, and the follow-through to make sure the same incident doesn't happen twice
  • Partner with engineering teams to embed reliability thinking into the SDLC - capacity planning, load testing, chaos engineering, and production readiness reviews
  • Help define and build the SRE team as the company scales - this is a foundational hire with a path to leadership

What We're Looking For
  • 6+ years of experience in site reliability engineering, DevOps, or infrastructure engineering in a SaaS or cloud environment
  • Proven experience building or significantly maturing an SRE function - not just operating within one someone else built
  • Strong fundamentals in networking - TCP/IP, DNS, routing, switching, firewalls, and load balancing. Experience with network management or observability platforms is a significant plus
  • Hands-on experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration in production environments
  • Deep proficiency with observability tooling - Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, Splunk, or similar
  • Strong scripting and automation skills in Python, Bash, or similar
  • Experience with cloud platforms - AWS, GCP, or Azure - including infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible, or equivalent)
  • Track record of owning and improving incident response processes including blameless post-mortems and SLO-driven reliability improvements
  • Ability to communicate clearly with both engineering teams and non-technical stakeholders - you can explain an outage to a customer-facing team without jargon and explain an SLO to an executive without losing them

Nice to Have
  • Experience supporting enterprise or federal government customers with high availability requirements
  • Experience in a foundational or early SRE hire capacity at a growth stage company

What This Role Is Not
  • A pure ops or NOC role - you are building and engineering, not just monitoring
  • A siloed function - you will be deeply embedded with product and engineering teams
  • A ticket-taker - you will be proactively identifying and solving reliability problems before they become incidents

Why Forward
  • You'll be building something from scratch at a company with real enterprise traction and world-class investors behind it
  • Our customers include some of the most complex network environments on the planet - the reliability bar is high and the work is genuinely interesting
  • People-centric culture built by Stanford Ph.D.s who care deeply about doing things the right way
  • Competitive compensation, equity, and the opportunity to grow into a leadership role as the SRE function scales

The base pay range for this role is between $230,000 and $250,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location

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