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Senior Software Engineer, Backend

Vannevar Labs

Vannevar Labs

Software Engineering
Remote
Posted on May 7, 2021
Vannevar Labs builds next generation defense software for the public servants keeping our country safe. As a team, we exist because we believe in public service, and we think that our democracy and government improve only if we put serious, collective effort into improving them, including the technology our government uses.
This mission has become urgent. Ukraine is engaged in a war for survival with Russia. China regularly flies nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan and Japan’s airspace. The US and our allies are fighting a war of deterrence with woefully outdated technology.
We build software to support these missions, including providing battlefield information to allies, identifying malign activity, and helping the US deter and deescalate conflict.
We are a profitable growth startup with some of the best defense investors in the world, including General Catalyst, DFJ Growth, Point72, and enterprise tech investors Costanoa and Felicis.
We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to build and refine our data processing applications. You’ll be in charge of scraping the web for mission critical data and then building out pipelines for those data. We also do something common in Silicon Valley tech companies but radical in the defense space: we develop and test products side-by-side with our users, including on US military bases and remote locations abroad. Our engineering culture is about empathizing with users and building software products that deliver maximum mission impact.
As a founding member of the team your decisions today will have a large impact on the company today and into the future. We believe that simple systems are easier to understand, maintain, and scale - we prefer pragmatic, product-centric solutions. You are innovative: willing to take risks, think critically about novel solutions, and advocate for your ideas while seeking feedback and collaboration. You will be making trade-offs as you work to ensure that our systems are prepared to scale — being able to effectively communicate these trade-offs with your teammates is a must.

What You'll Do

  • Develop innovative solutions scraping data from various online sources
  • Work side-by-side with our mission team and product managers to ideate software solutions
  • Design client-side and server-side architecture
  • Develop and manage well-functioning databases and applications
  • Write effective APIs
  • Test software to ensure responsiveness and efficiency
  • Write technical documentation
  • Collaborate with analysts to improve software

Qualifications

  • 4+ years as a Backend Engineer or similar role
  • Experience with Python
  • Familiarity with relational databases
  • Excellent communication and teamwork skills
  • Experience scraping data or a strong desire to learn
  • U.S. Person status is required as this position will require the ability to access U.S. only data systems with the ability to obtain security clearance

Additional Qualifications (Nice to haves)

  • Experience with AWS
  • Experience with ElasticSearch
  • Experience with Docker
  • Experiences with caching databases (e.g. Redis)
What We Offer:
401k Match
Equity
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Open PTO
Flexible work environment - you manage your workday
100% remote - work from anywhere in the US
Mental health benefits
Pet care reimbursement during travel
Vannevar Labs is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you!