Description
Senior AI Software Engineer
Location: Remote
Department: Engineering
Location Type: REMOTE
Employment Type: FULL_TIME
Who We Are
At Firestorm, we’re on a mission to revolutionize how defense solutions are designed and delivered. Our goal is to empower U.S. ally nations to effectively deter aggressors — regardless of their defense budget — through innovative, cost-efficient technologies. We call this vision “democratized deterrence.” As a VC-backed company at the intersection of defense and Silicon Valley, we’re pioneering the development of mission-adaptable aerial vehicles that put power back into the hands of operators. By prioritizing operator effectiveness, we’re pioneering a new era of aerial vehicle design. We aim to upend the traditional defense procurement model by delivering world-class capabilities at a fraction of the usual cost. Join us at Firestorm as we redefine defense procurement, making cutting-edge technology accessible to all at a fraction of the cost.
About the Role
At Firestorm, we are building autonomous aerial systems that operate where they are needed most, when they are needed most. Our mission requires speed, ingenuity, and a relentless commitment to engineering excellence. We move fast, test constantly, and deliver capability that performs in the real world, not just in simulation.
We are looking for a Senior AI Software Engineer who is excited to build, test, and deliver production-grade AI-enabled software systems. This is a hands-on role, working on end-to-end delivery from early prototypes through hardened deployments. You will potentially lead a small team in the future. This role blends strong software engineering fundamentals with modern AI system development: turning ambiguous user intent into reliable, structured outputs; integrating safely with existing internal systems; and building the validation, observability, and governance required for high-integrity environments. This is not a research-only role. You will ship, iterate quickly, and set the technical and execution standard for a team operating under demanding timelines.
If you want to build systems that matter, own your work end to end, and be part of a team that values bold thinking grounded in rigorous engineering, Firestorm is the place to do it.
What You'll Do
- Lead hands-on development of AI-enabled software systems from concept to deployment, balancing rapid iteration with engineering rigor
- Support end-to-end delivery across product and engineering concerns: requirements intake, decomposition into structured outputs, validation, and release readiness
- Build and maintain agentic workflows (tool use, state handling, retries, human-in-the-loop gates) with clear safety and quality constraints
- Define and enforce structured output contracts (schemas, validations, compatibility expectations) to reduce brittleness and enable long-term evolution
- Establish build and release discipline: versioning conventions, reproducibility practices, CI quality gates, and rollback-ready releases
- Drive operational readiness: observability, auditability, failure-mode handling, and secure-by-default service behavior
- Partner with adjacent engineering teams to integrate with existing platforms without bypassing governance boundaries
- Set team execution cadence: sprint planning, technical prioritization, code reviews, and operational response expectations
- Identify high-risk failure modes in AI workflows and ship mitigations (guardrails, validation layers, permissioning, throttling, and safe defaults)
- Produce clear technical documentation and decision records that enable fast onboarding and consistent engineering behavior
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)
- U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance
- 8+ years of experience building and shipping production software systems (services, platforms, or distributed systems)
- 4+ years of production AI/ML experience, including ownership of real-world reliability, safety, and performance outcomes
- Demonstrated experience shipping LLM-enabled applications to production (e.g., tool use/function calling, structured outputs, retrieval-augmented generation, robust error handling and fallback strategies)
- Experience designing AI evaluation and quality gates (offline eval harnesses, regression suites, golden sets, automated grading, CI integration)
- Experience operating AI systems in production (monitoring, alerting, quality/regression tracking, latency/cost controls, incident response)
- Strong proficiency in Python and at least one backend/systems language (e.g., Go, Java, C++, Rust)
- Experience designing and evolving structured interfaces (schemas, validation, versioning, migrations, compatibility)
- Experience implementing safety/security controls for AI systems (authZ, auditability, data handling boundaries, prompt-injection/abuse mitigation, least-privilege tool access)
- Proven ability to lead execution in a fast-paced environment while staying highly hands-on
- Excellent communication and documentation skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with LLM evaluation techniques (LLM-as-judge, rubric-based scoring, pairwise comparisons, calibrated metrics, red-teaming)
- Experience building agent frameworks (planning, tool routing, state machines, multi-step workflows, fallback strategies, HITL approvals)
- Experience with model adaptation (prompt optimization, fine-tuning, adapters/LoRA) and the tradeoffs between prompting vs tuning
- Experience with multimodal AI (vision + language) and/or integrating AI with real-time systems
- Experience with AI security (prompt injection defenses, tool sandboxing, data exfiltration prevention, policy enforcement)
- Familiarity with software supply chain practices (dependency hygiene, artifact provenance concepts, secure release workflows)
- Experience working on safety- or mission-critical systems where correctness, traceability, and auditable behavior matter
Work Environment
- Remote (U.S.) with the option to be based at our Headquarters in San Diego, CA. We welcome candidates who are local or open to relocating; relocation assistance is available and may be included in the offer package where appropriate
- Willingness to travel up to 10% domestically for testing and demonstrations
Compensation
US Salary Range: $175,000 - $245,000 USD
The posted salary range reflects an estimate based on a variety of compensation factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, education, certifications, specialized skills, geographic location, and business needs. Actual compensation may vary, and this range is subject to change as our compensation structure or market conditions evolve.
Benefits & Perks
Our culture fosters collaboration, respect, and trust, empowering passionate people to do their best work. We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for career growth. In addition to an opportunity to take part in an innovative, collaborative and fast-growing business with a highly motivated and skilled team, we also take pride in taking care of our employees. Here are just a few ways that we show our appreciation:
- We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and visions plans
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to invest in your long-term retirement goals
- Equity grants for new hires
- Unlimited PTO
- Extremely generous company holiday calendar, including a holiday hiatus in November, & December
- Generous Parental Leave
- Lifestyle Spending Account
- FSA
- DCFSA
- HSA
- Hospital Indemnity insurance
- Critical Illness insurance
- Accident insurance
- Basic Life/AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance, 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus, the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family
- Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, are available to you as well
Export Control Compliance
To conform to U.S. government export control regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Department of Commerce.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Firestorm is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, and upholding equitable hiring practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic under federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the CA Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We actively encourage members of recognized minorities, women, Veterans, and those with disabilities to apply, and we work to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all applicants throughout the interview process.
Firestorm is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require accommodations or assistance during the application process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] so we can provide the support you need.
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