Software Engineer - USDS
Responsibilities
About the Team
The Cyber Defense & Engineering team is missioned to run and operate security infrastructures, platforms and technologies, as well as to support cross-functional teams to protect our users, products and infrastructures. In this team you'll have a unique opportunity to have first-hand exposure to the strategy of the company in key security initiatives, especially in deploying and maintaining scalable and secure-by-design systems and solutions. Our challenges are not your regular day-to-day technical problems; you'll be part of a team that's developing new solutions to new challenges of a kind not previously addressed by big tech. It's working fast, at scale, and we're making a difference.
About the Role
You are a Senior Engineer first, and an AI-builder second. While your output will be autonomous AI agents, the day-to-day responsibilities include building the robust, scalable, and secure distributed systems that allow those agents to operate. This role will join a "Tiger Team". You will own the full vertical-from the React frontend where humans supervise agents, to the Python/Go backend services that power them, down to the Kubernetes infrastructure they run on.
Responsibilities
To succeed in this role, you are expected demonstrate mastery of the following engineering fundamentals:
1. Backend Engineering & System Architecture
- Language Proficiency: Expert-level fluency in Python (FastAPI, Django, or Flask) is mandatory for AI orchestration.
- API Design: Extensive experience designing RESTful APIs and GraphQL schemas. You understand idempotency, rate limiting, authentication (OAuth2/JWT), and API versioning strategies.
- Distributed Systems: Deep understanding of microservices architecture, message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ, or SQS), and asynchronous task processing (Celery, Temporal). You know how to handle race conditions and ensure data consistency across services.
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- Database Design:
- Relational: Expert SQL skills (PostgreSQL/MySQL). You can design normalized schemas, optimize complex queries, and understand indexing strategies for performance.
- NoSQL: Familiarity with key-value stores (Redis for caching/session management) and document stores (MongoDB/DynamoDB) for flexible agent memory.
2. Frontend Engineering
- Modern Frameworks: Deep expertise in React (TypeScript) ecosystems. You are comfortable using Next.js for server-side rendering and static site generation.
- State Management: Proficiency with complex state management libraries (Redux Toolkit, Zustand, or React Query) to handle real-time agent status updates without UI lag.
- UI/UX Implementation: Ability to implement responsive, accessible designs using modern styling systems (Tailwind CSS, Styled Components, or Material UI). You aren't just "patching" UIs; you build intuitive dashboards for non-technical operators.
3. Infrastructure & DevOps
- Containerization: You live in the terminal. Experience writing multi-stage Dockerfiles and managing container orchestration with Kubernetes (Helm charts, kubectl).
- CI/CD Pipelines: Experience setting up comprehensive CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI) that include automated linting (flake8/black/ESLint), unit testing (PyTest/Jest), and integration testing before deployment.
- Observability: You build systems that are easy to debug. Experience integrating observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, Sentry) to trace requests and monitor system health.
The "AI-Native" Layer
While the skills above are the foundation, the following are the "force multipliers" required for this specific team:
- Vector Infrastructure: Experience running vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Milvus) in production, including hybrid search (keyword + semantic) strategies.
- Agent Orchestration: Practical experience with LangChain or LangGraph to manage agent state, memory, and tool execution loops.
- LLM Integration: Deep familiarity with OpenAI/Anthropic APIs, specifically Function Calling (structured output) and context window management.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in software development with a strong focus on backend systems.
- Proven proficiency in full stack web development using languages like Python and JavaScript for building robust, scalable applications.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and drive technical initiatives independently in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Proficiency in Go (Golang) for high-concurrency microservices.
- Experience in designing or developing automation agents or similar intelligent systems.
- Demonstrated ability to contribute to architectural design, translate business goals into a technical vision, and make sound, data-driven decisions.
- Experience with user interface designing keeping user experience at the forefront.
Job Information
[For Pay Transparency] Compensation Description (annually)
The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $187040 - $359720 annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
Perks and Benefits
Health and Wellness
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- HSA
- Life Insurance
- Fitness Subsidies
- Short-Term Disability
- Long-Term Disability
- On-Site Gym
- Mental Health Benefits
- Virtual Fitness Classes
Parental Benefits
- Fertility Benefits
- Adoption Assistance Program
- Family Support Resources
Work Flexibility
- Flexible Work Hours
- Hybrid Work Opportunities
Office Life and Perks
- Casual Dress
- Snacks
- Pet-friendly Office
- Happy Hours
- Some Meals Provided
- Company Outings
- On-Site Cafeteria
- Holiday Events
Vacation and Time Off
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Holidays
- Personal/Sick Days
- Leave of Absence
Financial and Retirement
- 401(K) With Company Matching
- Performance Bonus
- Company Equity
Professional Development
- Promote From Within
- Access to Online Courses
- Leadership Training Program
- Associate or Rotational Training Program
- Mentor Program
Diversity and Inclusion
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program
- Employee Resource Groups (ERG)
Company Videos
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