Raft
Defense Tech
LeadAI/MLSoftwareEngineer
“Lead AI/ML Software Engineer at Raft. Skills: AI/ML, Distributed Systems, Software Engineering, Cloud-native. Drive architectural decisions. Lead major technical epics”
What You'll Achieve.
Shape the next phase of [R]AIMS; Evolving the architecture, execution, and engineering rigor of Raft’s AI Mission System; Raising the technical bar across the platform; Driving architectural decisions; Leading major technical epics from conception through delivery; Establishing the engineering patterns that the platform will grow on; Balancing rapid mission delivery with long-term platform integrity; [R]AIMS has a coherent, well-documented architecture; Major platform initiatives ship on time with high engineering quality; The engineering team is measurably stronger; Customers trust Raft technically; Platform complexity is decreasing relative to capability
Industry & Context.
Simplify complexity; Debugging difficult distributed systems issues; Making pragmatic tradeoff decisions under ambiguity; Solving complex problems
U. S. based position, U. S. citizenship required, All work must be conducted within the continental U. S., Ability to obtain Security+ certification, Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI clearance, Up to 25% travel
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
6+ years of hands-on experience building and shipping production software systems across the full stack, Deep software engineering fundamentals, Proven experience designing and evolving distributed systems, hands-on experience with Kubernetes and cloud-native platform architecture in production environments, Experience building data-intensive or AI-enabled production systems, Demonstrated technical leadership over large, cross-functional engineering initiatives, system design and architecture decision-making ability, Ability to obtain Security+ certification within the first 90 days of employment, U. S. citizenship, ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI clearance
Nice to Have
Experience building AI/ML infrastructure or agentic systems, Experience with streaming and event-driven architectures, Experience with platform engineering and internal developer tooling, Experience with real-time inference or operational AI systems, Experience building secure, compliant systems for regulated or mission-critical environments, familiarity with IL4/IL5/IL6 requirements or RMF processes, Prior work in defense, national security, or classified program environments, Active clearance
What You'll Do.
Drive architectural decisions
Lead major technical epics
Simplify distributed system architecture
Optimize platform performance
Establish engineering foundations
Partner with AI/ML engineers
Engage with customers
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner closely with platform leadership, product, and delivery teams; driving architectural decisions; leading major technical epics; establishing engineering patterns; keeping cross-functional teams moving; building alignment across engineering and product stakeholders; elevating technical execution across the platform; working as a hyper collaborative team
Communication Scope
Exceptional technical communication; lead through influence; technical communication with credibility and clarity
Process & Methodology
Decomposing ambiguous problems into executable plans
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