Staff Software Engineer - Backend / Python / API

About the role

Staff Software Engineer - Backend / Python / API

A Frontier AI startup backed by $170m in funding is hiring a Staff Software Engineer to build the distributed backend systems powering next-generation modelling & simulation platforms for defence and autonomous systems. Their technology enables engineers to develop, validate and deploy AI-generated software inside high-fidelity virtual environments, allowing autonomous systems to be tested at scale before deployment into the real world. This is a rare chance to join at a pivotal stage of growth, working alongside a team that has already assembled some of the most credible technical talent in the industry. The team includes alumni from OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft AI and NASA, combining deep foundation model research with world-class systems engineering and mathematical expertise.

This is a hands-on, deeply technical position focused on architecting the distributed backend services that underpins large-scale simulation workloads and autonomous AI agents. You'll be building high-performance Python services responsible for orchestrating complex simulation environments, managing distributed execution, processing vast volumes of simulation data, and ensuring the reliability and scalability of mission-critical systems. The simulations model real-world environments where autonomous software can be exercised against changing terrain, sensor inputs, communications constraints and adversarial conditions, allowing engineers to rapidly evaluate, iterate and validate new capabilities. You'll work closely with AI researchers, systems engineers and simulation specialists to ensure these environments can operate efficiently across large distributed compute clusters while supporting next-generation autonomous software development.

Experience Required:

7+ years' experience building production backend services and applications with Python

Strong experience designing and developing scalable APIs and backend services (REST, GraphQL, gRPC or similar)

Experience designing distributed systems and service-oriented architectures that support large-scale data processing, compute or simulation workloads

Experience building data-intensive backend systems, pipelines, or services that integrate with multiple systems and expose results to downstream users or applications

Experience deploying and operating production backend services in cloud environments (AWS preferred)

Background in defence, robotics, modelling & simulation, scientific computing or other performance-critical environments (highly desirable)

This is an opportunity to build the backend behind some of the most advanced modelling & simulation capabilities being developed today. Your work will enable AI-generated software to be tested, validated and refined across thousands of simulated scenarios before deployment, directly influencing the reliability of autonomous systems operating in complex, mission-critical environments. If you're excited by distributed systems, high-performance computing and simulation at scale and want to work alongside some of the strongest engineers and researchers in AI, this is an exceptional opportunity.