Founding Full Stack Engineer

A venture-backed defence technology startup is hiring a Founding Full Stack Engineer to help build the AI platform transforming military readiness. Already deployed across multiple US Department of Defense customers and backed by leading defence and AI investors, the business is replacing outdated military systems with AI-powered workflows that dramatically improve operational readiness. As one of the first engineering hires, you’ll work directly with the founders and military end users, shaping both the product and the future of the company. Role: Founding Full Stack Engineer Salary: $180,000 - $250,000 + 0.5% - 1.5% equity Location: San Francisco (on-site) US Citizenship is essential What you’ll be doing Build and ship production-grade full stack applications used by military teams every dayOwn features end to end, from understanding customer requirements through to deploymentWork directly with service members to translate operational challenges into software solutionsDevelop AI-powered workflows that automate complex operational processesBuild scalable backend services, frontend applications and cloud infrastructureCollaborate directly with the founders on product strategy, architecture and engineering cultureTravel to military bases approximately once per month to gather feedback and improve the productHelp establish engineering standards as one of the company’s first technical hires What you’ll need 3 to 5 years’ commercial experience as a Full Stack Engineer, with strong TypeScript expertiseProven experience shipping production software within an early-stage, high-growth startup, ideally Seed or Series AStrong experience building applications using TypeScript, Next.js, Python, Express and PostgreSQLExperience deploying production applications on AWS or other cloud platformsHands-on experience integrating LLMs into production applications or workflowsExperience working within highly regulated or compliance-driven environmentsStrong customer mindset with the ability to work directly with users and rapidly turn feedback into product featuresHigh ownership mentality with the ability to thrive in ambiguous startup environmentsCollaborative approach with low ego and a willingness to give and receive feedbackTechnical degree from a US university in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics or a related disciplineWillingness to travel monthly to customer sites Nice to have Previous experience building products for Department of Defense or defence technology organisations such as OneBrief, Vannevar Labs, Raft or TurbineOneExperience with Kubernetes and secure open-source infrastructure including Grafana, Loki or KeycloakFamiliarity with DoD security and compliance frameworksMilitary experience or US Veteran statusActive US Security Clearance This role would suit an ambitious engineer who enjoys building products from the ground up, thrives in high-ownership startup environments and wants to work directly with military users to deliver AI technology with genuine real-world impact.