Staff Software Engineer
At a glance
Senior Engineering Leadership role at CHAOS Industries. San Francisco · $190,000–$260,000 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build backend services and data pipelines that turn incoming radar sensor data into information operators can use
- Move field sensor data to dependent services over limited bandwidth, keeping delivery fast and reliable
- Create streaming, storage, and replay for detections, tracks, and telemetry, including fused 3D geospatial views
- Develop the coordination layer that adjusts sensor fleet operations as field conditions change
- Guide platform architecture so new capabilities can scale while the system remains maintainable
What you bring
- You have production experience building backend services with Python, using FastAPI or a comparable framework
- You have built real-time or streaming data systems and understand distributed systems challenges
- You have taken a production system from design through launch and handled issues after release
- You are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and can obtain and retain a U.S. security clearance
Who this fits
This senior role suits a hands-on engineer who enjoys distributed systems, real-time data, and owning production systems end to end. You must work onsite in San Francisco or relocate to the Bay Area.
From the employer
The Role
You'll join a small, highly collaborative team in San Francisco building the software behind some of the world's most advanced radar systems.
Working alongside software, hardware, and systems engineers, and the teams who take these systems into the field, you'll design the backend services and data pipelines that turn raw sensor data into decisions people can act on.
We're looking for builders who learn quickly and enjoy hard distributed systems and real-time data problems.
What You'll Build
- Edge-to-Cloud Data Delivery - robust, low-latency systems that move sensor data from radars in the field, often over constrained bandwidth, to the services and operators that depend on it.
- Backend Services - high-performance Python (FastAPI) services that ingest, process, and distribute real-time sensor data reliably and securely at scale.
- Live and Replay Data - the streaming, storage, and replay of detections, tracks, and telemetry that power high-speed live views and playback of 3D geospatial data fused from multiple sensors.
- Fleet Orchestration - the coordination and decision-making layer that optimizes how a growing fleet of sensors operates as conditions in the field change.
- Platform Architecture - help shape the technical direction of the platform, making architectural decisions that support new capabilities, increasing scale, and long-term maintainability.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for exceptional software engineers who are excited by hard technical problems and building systems that matter. Beyond our core stack, we care more about strong engineering fundamentals, curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly than about any specific technology.
You'll thrive in this role if you:
- Have strong production experience building backend services in Python (FastAPI or similar).
- Have built real-time or streaming data systems - message queues, WebSockets, time-series data - and enjoy hard distributed systems problems.
- Have owned a production system end to end - designed it, shipped it, and fixed it when it broke.
- Are eager to learn new technologies and adapt to new technical domains.
- Care deeply about reliability, security, and scalability.
- Get real leverage from AI coding tools, with a considered view on what to delegate to them and what not to.
- Communicate well and enjoy collaborating across teams.
Experience in any of the following is a plus:
- Building geospatial or 3D data visualizations in TypeScript and React.
- Edge computing, or moving data reliably over constrained or unreliable networks.
- Azure or another major cloud platform.
- Hardware, sensors, robotics, telemetry, or defense systems.
Requirements
- Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen or permanent resident), as required for access to controlled technology.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, the San Francisco Bay Area. This role is onsite in our SF office.
Why CHAOS?
- Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
- Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
- Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
- Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
- Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices
The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.
Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.
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