The role
- COMP
- $180K - $240K
- EQUITY
- $50K - 500K over 4 years.
- LOCATION
- San Francisco
- WORKPLACE
- On-site
- EXPERIENCE
- 2 - 8 years
- VISA
- None
- STACK
- Python, Next.js, React, TypeScript
- INDUSTRY
- AI, Defense, Government, Software Development, Security
/roles — ROLE_474
Backend Platform Engineer
Early-stage defense AI startup helping companies win and deliver government contracts faster
The company
AI platform helping Fortune 500s and fast-growing startups win government contracts across 60+ allied nations.
- STAGE
- seed-stage
- FUNDING
- seed funding
- TEAM
- ~10 people
- FOUNDED
- 2024
- BACKING
- VC-backed
JD — the work
About the role
You would own the backend foundation and infrastructure of an AI platform that helps companies pursue and win government contracts. The engineering team is small and ships every day, working closely with forward deployed engineers and product to serve special operations units, national security programs, and big defense contractors. The role suits someone deeply technical who likes startup speed and wants to put better tools in front of soldiers and government users.
What you'll do
- Architect the central backend of an AI product that helps companies pursue and win public-sector contracts
- Take full ownership of backend services, covering API design, data pipelines, deployment, and scaling
- Build features with the forward deployed and product teams for special operations units and large defense contractors
- Develop LLM-based workflows and agents that help customers spot the right opportunities and win them
- Push code every day as part of a tight, productive engineering group that includes the founders
- Visit customers in person a few days each month to collect requirements and refine features with operators
What they're looking for
- 2 to 8 years of backend and infrastructure experience
- Working knowledge of several of: Python, Linux, Bash, Kubernetes, Terraform, AWS or GCP, DevOps, LLM tooling
- Deep technical ability and comfort moving at startup speed
- Motivation to get strong technology to warfighters and government users
- Willingness to work on-site in San Francisco
Nice to have
- Some hands-on experience working in TypeScript