Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer, Chipforge Remote (Australia-based) · Full-time Chipforge is building an AI platform that turns plain-English specifications into working, verified hardware designs. We're looking for a Lead Software Engineer to build the technical core of that platform from the ground up: the backend that powers our AI features, the data layer that records how a design evolves, and the infrastructure that lets customers run their own isolated environments, whether in the cloud or in a fully air-gapped deployment. This is a foundational hire. You'll be one of the first people to shape the platform's architecture, and the decisions you make now will still be running the system well after we've scaled. ▍WHAT YOU'LL OWN Build and lead development of our multi-tenant platform: a Python/FastAPI backend, the core data layer, and the APIs that tie everything together.Design the data layer that versions and reconstructs project state over time, so a customer's work can be tracked and replayed as their project evolves.Build the layer that connects the product to our LLM: retrieving the right context (including RAG), shaping prompts, managing the exchange with the model, and turning raw model output into reliable, structured results the product can use.Build the data-security layer that protects customer data end to end, appropriate to customers with strict security and data-residency requirements.Build customer tenant provisioning and management, including access-control models that hold up whether a tenant shares cloud infrastructure with others or runs in an isolated, air-gapped environment.Take end-to-end technical ownership of product release delivery. You're accountable for what ships, not just the code you personally write.Set technical direction and review standards for the engineering team as we grow.Work directly with our Head of Product Engineering on architecture decisions that span engineering and product. ▍WHAT YOU'LL NEED 8+ years of hands-on Python in production (not personal projects), with deep experience in FastAPI or a comparable asynchronous Python framework.At least 3 years incorporating AI tooling into your own development workflow.Solid PostgreSQL skills: schema design, query performance, and migrations at scale.Real experience building multi-tenant SaaS systems on AWS, specifically the access-control and data-isolation problems that come with letting multiple customers share (or deliberately not share) infrastructure.Strong DevOps and AWS experience, including fully automated CI/CD pipelines.Event-sourcing or event-driven architecture experience, including event stores, CQRS, or similar patterns.Strong system-level design ability. You can reason about how the whole platform fits together (backend, data layer, AI, and infrastructure) and make architecture decisions that hold up as the system grows, rather than only building one component well.API design that goes well beyond basic CRUD. You should be comfortable designing interfaces other engineers will build on for years.A track record of senior technical delivery: you've shipped something as the person accountable for it landing, not just as a contributor.A track record of prioritising work, defining a roadmap, and working closely with non-technical stakeholders.IAM experience for multi-tenant provisioning (Keycloak or equivalent), which carries directly into our on-premises and air-gapped deployments.Comfort operating with ambiguity. This is an early-stage platform, and you'll often be making calls that don't have a playbook yet. ▍NICE TO HAVE Strong working knowledge of AI and LLMs: how they behave, where they fail, and how to build reliable systems around them.Exposure to hardware design workflows or RTL design. You don't need a hardware background, but curiosity about the domain helps.Experience building for air-gapped or on-premises deployment environments.Prior experience as a technical lead mentoring or managing other engineers.Exposure to security and compliance frameworks such as SOC 2. ▍HOW WE WORK This is a remote-first role, open to candidates based anywhere in Australia. We work closely as a distributed team across Australia, Singapore, and India, so comfort collaborating across time zones matters. Occasional travel for team or product sessions may come up, but the day-to-day is remote.