Forward Deployed Software Engineer, Cleared (TS/SCI)

Kaizen Labs•Washington, DC

3d•$220,000 - $280,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. Our platform reaches 55 million Americans across 50+ agencies. Our goal: build technology that touches the lives of 100 million residents by the end of the year. Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn't be a luxury in government. It's how you earn trust back. This role requires an active Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance. United States citizenship is required, because it is a condition of eligibility for the clearance the role depends on. Most government software was built for compliance, not for the people who use it. Kaizen is changing that, and the engineers who work here are the reason it's possible. At the senior level, this role carries more than code: you're shaping how AI-native features get designed, scoped, and shipped across a platform that millions of Americans touch when they need something from their government. You'll be one of a small number of engineers with direct influence over what gets built and how: setting technical direction, mentoring teammates, and driving decisions that stick.

Requirements

5+ years of professional engineering experience, with a track record of owning complex features and systems, not just executing on them
Hands-on development experience with Palantir Foundry, AIP, or Maven Smart System. You have modeled against the ontology, shipped pipelines or AIP agents, and can say what the platform does well and where you had to work around it
Deep fluency in React / Next.js and Node.js / TypeScript / Postgres. Fast, not just functional
AI coding tools (Cursor, Copilot, Claude) are already baked into how you work. You've shipped with them, and you move measurably faster because of it
You've built something real: a product, an open source project, a system you designed and stood behind
Proven ability to operate in ambiguity: you define the problem as often as you solve it, and you don't stall waiting for the answer to come to you
A genuine orientation toward the end user, the person on the other side of the screen isn't an abstraction to you
Active Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance
United States citizenship

Nice To Haves

Shipped software inside a classified or otherwise accredited environment, and know where the real friction lives
Been a Forward Deployed Engineer, or worked a program where Palantir was prime and you were the one making the integration actually work
Touched federal, state, or local government tech, or have built in other regulated, high-stakes environments where the constraints were real
Cloud deployment depth: AWS, Vercel, GitHub Actions, ECS/Fargate
Experience with design systems and component libraries and a clear opinion on when a component is right vs. just functional
Led technical work in an early-stage environment where the job was figuring it out, not following a playbook

Responsibilities

Architect and ship full-stack features end-to-end, from scoping and technical design through build, iteration, and production
Build and integrate against the Palantir stack: Foundry ontologies and pipelines, AIP agents, and Maven Smart System workflows
Build inside classification and data-handling constraints rather than around them
Lead the development of AI-powered product surfaces: intelligent intake flows, real-time constituent assistants, automated case routing, agency operator dashboards
Set technical direction and raise the bar on code quality. Your decisions become the patterns the rest of the team builds on
Engage directly with federal agency stakeholders to translate messy real-world requirements into clean, shippable product
Own platform reliability and performance at government scale: real SLAs, real users, no abstraction layer between you and accountability
Mentor earlier-career engineers through code review, pairing, and direct technical feedback

Benefits

100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance.
FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.
16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents.
10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum
Closed for all federal holidays.
Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Company offsites throughout the year.
Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch while in the office.
Company-provided laptop of your choice.
Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.
$100/month utility stipend.
$500/year professional development.
$250/year recreation.
$300/quarter pet care stipend.