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Role Description

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 Lead 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
• 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.

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
• Experience designing AI evaluation and quality gates
• Experience operating AI systems in production
• Strong proficiency in Python and at least one backend/systems language (e.g., Go, Java, C++, Rust)
• Experience designing and evolving structured interfaces
• Experience implementing safety/security controls for AI systems
• Proven ability to lead execution in a fast-paced environment while staying highly hands-on
• Excellent communication and documentation skills

Requirements

• 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 with clear safety and quality constraints
• Define and enforce structured output contracts to reduce brittleness and enable long-term evolution
• Establish build and release discipline
• Drive operational readiness
• Partner with adjacent engineering teams to integrate with existing platforms
• Set team execution cadence
• Identify high-risk failure modes in AI workflows and ship mitigations
• Produce clear technical documentation and decision records

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Equity grants for new hires
• Unlimited PTO
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar
• 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
• Mental Health Resources available 24/7