Backend Platform Engineer — Careers
Now hiring · {{ companyName }}

Backend Platform
Engineer

Department
Backend & Infrastructure
Location
San Francisco, CA · Washington, DC
Salary
$180K–$240K
Eligibility
US citizens only
Position
Backend Platform Engineer
Employment
Full-time · On-site
Experience
2–8 years
01 — Overview

About the Role

Our client is looking for backend engineers with 2–8 years of experience who can build and own core backend architecture and infrastructure for their AI platform. You should be deeply technical, comfortable working at startup speed, and excited about putting the best technology in the hands of warfighters and government operators. Bonus points if you hold an active security clearance or have worked on government or defense projects. US citizenship is a strict requirement.

02 — Responsibilities

What will you be doing?

  • Design and build the core backend architecture powering an AI platform for government contract capture
  • Own backend systems end-to-end — from data pipelines and API design to deployment and scaling
  • Work closely with forward-deployed engineers and the product team to ship features that serve Special Forces, Fortune 500 defense contractors, and other Department of War initiatives
  • Build and integrate AI agents and LLM-powered workflows that help customers identify and win contracts
  • Collaborate with a small, high-output engineering team (six engineers, founders included) shipping code daily
  • Occasionally travel to customer sites, a few days per month, to gather requirements and iterate alongside operators
03 — The Details

Role Details

Experience2–8 years as a full-stack engineer, 70/30 back-end leaning
Salary$180K - $240K
Equity$50K – $500K over four years
Work policyIn person five days a week in San Francisco (primary) or Washington, DC. Expect occasional travel to customer sites, a few days per month.
VisaVisa sponsorship is not available. US citizenship is a strict requirement due to the nature of the defense and government work; green card holders are not eligible.
Position typeFull-time position
LocationSan Francisco, CA · Washington, DC
Tech stack
Python DevOps Bash Linux Kubernetes Terraform AWS / GCP LLMs AI Agents Next.js React TypeScript
Why this role

Highlights

01

Mission-critical national security work: The platform helps America and its allies buy technology at speed. Your backend work is used by Special Forces, Fortune 500 defense contractors, and Department of War initiatives.

02

Real ownership at the core: You own backend systems end-to-end — data pipelines, API design, deployment, and scaling — rather than picking up tickets on someone else’s architecture.

03

Small team, daily shipping: Six engineers including the founders. Code ships every day and your individual impact is immediate and visible.

04

Serious equity: $180K–$240K base plus an equity grant of $50K–$500K over four years at a company that has already helped clients win contracts across NATO nations.

05

Frontier AI, applied: Build and integrate AI agents and LLM-powered workflows into a production platform, working alongside forward-deployed engineers and operators.
What we need

Key Requirements

  • Seniority: 2–8 years of backend infrastructure experience, as a full-stack engineer leaning roughly 70/30 toward the back end
  • Core stack: Experience with several of Python, DevOps, Bash, Linux, Kubernetes, Terraform, AWS/GCP, and agentic or LLM tooling. TypeScript is a bonus.
  • Ownership: Able to build and own core backend architecture end-to-end at startup speed, from data pipelines and API design through deployment and scaling
  • Mission fit: Passion for solving mission-critical national security problems, and comfort working directly with government and defense operators
  • Eligibility: US citizenship is a strict requirement. No visa sponsorship; green card holders are not eligible. An active security clearance or prior government/defense project work is a bonus.
  • On-site: In person five days a week in San Francisco or Washington, DC, with occasional customer-site travel a few days per month