Senior Backend Engineer- Autonomous Service layer

About the role

We're building Command & Control software for autonomous systems — drones, sensors, and unmanned platforms operating in real missions. Picture a real-time strategy game, but the units are real drones flying in the real world every single week. You click, group, and task them from a UI; behind the scenes, software routes those commands down to the hardware and streams data back up.

You'll own the middle layer that makes all of that work — the service/middleware backbone connecting our front-end, our edge/onboard systems, our physics & simulation engine, and our LLM/agent layer. This is the connective tissue of the whole stack, and it needs to be fast, reliable, and real-time.

This is a hands-on IC role on a ~15-person team that ships rapid prototypes straight to the field. There's real leadership growth here too — strong performers could lead a small team within a year.

What you'll do

• Design and build the core service layer connecting edge systems, front-end, simulation, and AI/LLM components
• Build and own middleware, APIs, and microservices that relay real-time data between many systems
• Integrate with messaging systems, data systems, and external services
• Wire our platform into LLM systems, AI agents, and tool chains where needed
• Move fast in a prototype-to-field environment, iterating directly with new customers

What we're looking for

• 4-10 years building backend / service-layer software — middleware, APIs, or microservices connecting multiple systems
• Strong experience with real-time data and messaging systems
• A track record of building scalable, distributed services (think the folks who've built real microservices at places operating at serious scale)
• Comfort in a fast, startup-style build environment
• Proficiency in a modern backend/systems language: Rust, Python, C++, or Java
• CS or related technical degree (Robotics, EE, etc.)
• US citizen / clearance-eligible (this role cannot support H1B or green-card holders due to clearance requirements)
• Based in or willing to relocate to Seattle, NYC, DC, or Palo Alto

Bonus points

• Background in autonomous systems, AV, robotics, or real-time systems
• Experience integrating LLMs / AI agents into production systems

Not the right fit if…

Your background is primarily algorithms, simulation, ML research, or path planning (we love that work — it just lives on a different team here). You're a director / ultra-senior engineer no longer writing code day-to-day.