Senior Software Engineer - UDS Foundations Team (RD182B)
Defense Unicorns seeks a Senior Software Engineer to work on our core products. You’ll collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and end users to ensure we’re building the right solutions—and building them well.
The team enables Platform Engineers to securely build, deploy, and operate mission-critical applications in regulated and disconnected environments by providing the core platform and tooling that power UDS.
As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll operate at the intersection of product development and technical execution. You’ll lead the design, implementation, and deployment of features and systems that have direct impact on mission outcomes.
Responsibilities:
Work with engineers internal to the company, and within the open source community on feature and bug fix requests
Proactively identify and resolve ambiguity in product requirements
Comfortable in an asynchronous, all remote environment
Actively participate in communities of practice via Slack and Github Issues
Integrate software products with existing defense systems, ensuring seamless interoperability and adherence to security protocols
Own architecture decisions and ensure technical quality across the engineering team
Develop comprehensive documentation, including design specifications, user manuals, and maintenance guides
Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends to inform product enhancements and innovation.
Provide technical mentorship and elevate engineering standards across the team
Influence product direction through deep understanding of user needs and system constraints
Participates in a shared 24x7 on-call rotation, owning incident response, troubleshooting, and coordination to ensure reliable production systems
Travel Expectations/Requirements: 5-15%
The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.
Preferred Experience and Qualifications:
5+ years (Senior) experience with software engineering
Experience using Git and GitHub in collaborative environments
Experience building and operating software products
Proficiency in a modern programming language (Golang and/or TypeScript preferred)
Experience with infrastructure as code using OpenTofu or Terraform
Strong understanding of system design, APIs, databases, and cloud architecture (e.g., AWS, Azure)
Ability to assess complex problems, propose pragmatic solutions, and drive them to completion
Experience developing CLIs, Kubernetes Operators, and/or OpenTofu providers is a plus
Familiar with Core Kubernetes Concepts including but not limited to Controllers, Operators, and CRDs
Experience contributing to or collaborating with Open Source Projects (e.g., CNCF, ASF, OpenSSF) is a plus
Strong communication and collaboration skills, comfortable conveying technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences
Experience working proactively, managing time efficiently, and thriving in a vibrant remote work environment ✨🦄
Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed. At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Skills
As published by ashby · 16 questions
Basics
Name, Email, Resume
Short answers (10)
- Phone Number
- LinkedIn Profile
- What is your primary GitHub profile? This is required for our technical assessment process.
- Why are you interested in working at Defense Unicorns?
- Tell us about a project or system you have built or significantly improved that you’re most proud of. What problem were you solving, what was your personal contribution, and what impact did it have?
- Our Foundation team builds and maintains the core platform and tooling that other engineers rely on. Tell us about your experience building or maintaining developer platforms, infrastructure, distributed systems, Kubernetes, Go services, or other foundational technology. Which parts have you personally owned?
- AI tools are changing how many engineers work and collaborate. Tell us about a recent time you used AI to better understand a complex technical concept or automate away a piece of tedious tech debt. What worked well, what did not, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Did a current Defense Unicorn refer you to this position and, if so, who was it?
- If yes, what event? optional
- What is your desired salary?
Pick from a list (5)
- Did you meet with or see Defense Unicorns while attending an event or conference (e.g. Kubecon)?
- In this question description we have provided a link to our California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) disclosure. Please acknowledge that you have been provided with this disclosure - Link included in question description.
- Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
- Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship?
- Do you hold an ACTIVE U.S. Government issued clearance? If so, what level? **Note: this position requires U.S. Citizenship.
Attachments (1)
- Cover Letter optional