Staff Software Engineer, Real-Time Systems

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results. The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic. Most backend roles ask you to wire up an API and move records in and out of a database. This one asks you to build the systems that keep the largest drone swarm on the planet coordinated in real time. You'll help architect the backend for Legion's Command & Control platform: the systems that let a single operator plan, direct, and execute missions across a networked swarm of heterogeneous aircraft, in real time, over intermittent comms, at a scale nobody else in the industry is attempting. This isn't CRUD. It's real-time distributed systems, high-throughput telemetry pipelines, and infrastructure for a problem space that barely has prior art. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Help architect the backend for a C2 system directing swarms of heterogeneous aircraft - Build distributed, collaborative real-time infrastructure for controlling large numbers of aircraft simultaneously, even when comms drop - Design and build the services that ingest, process, and distribute dense vehicle telemetry, sensor data, scheduling, crew resources, and data link management, much of it with no existing playbook to follow - Own backend features end to end, from design through deployment - Ship early, ship often, backed by strong CI/CD, QA, and DevSecOps WHAT YOU'VE DONE - Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience - 6+ years building complex backend systems with real distributed systems depth - Strong instincts for reliability, performance, and scalability, and the tools to back them up - Built and operated production backend services and APIs at scale WHAT SETS YOU APART - Experience with real-time and event-driven distributed systems - A track record with performance-sensitive, high-throughput application development - Familiarity with messaging and streaming protocols - Experience operating systems under degraded or intermittent connectivity - Experience with geospatial data or applications WHY THIS ROLE You'll be one of the earliest engineers shaping how humans command autonomous systems at scale, work that's currently being defined in real time, by a small team, with your fingerprints on the architecture. If you want to build the future of human-swarm interaction rather than maintain someone else's, this is that seat. ITAR requirement To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability. What We Offer - Meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company - Competitive base salary commensurate with experience - Medical, dental, vision, and 401k - PTO and paid sick leave - Monthly wellness stipend - Daily catered lunch (office) - Paid parental leave - Direct impact on a critical national security mission - A world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems