Senior Software Engineer – AI Infrastructure

Bitwise • Laurel, MD

5d

About The Position

Bitwise is a leading provider of mission-focused intelligence solutions that advance national security for the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. We're a small and growing company, so you can expect to hop in on the ground floor with us and be a consequential member of the team. You'll be more than a contract performer for us — you'll also be asked for ideas to improve our company and improve your career, and you'll contribute to our team culture. We value growth and community above almost all else, so we gather regularly for game nights, happy hours, tech talks, and plenty more. We think you'll like it here! Remember, Bitwise is not a cult. We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help build the next generation of AI infrastructure that powers innovation for our customer. This is a senior full-stack role at the heart of a dynamic AI platform organization — you'll be leading the development and operation of critical AI platform components, with a particular focus on scalable inference services and the broader AI application ecosystem. This isn't just a heads-down engineering role. You'll also carry project leadership responsibilities and serve as a people manager and mentor for a small, integrated team. That means you'll be as comfortable running a one-on-one as you are tuning a Kubernetes deployment. If you thrive in complex, ambiguous environments and want to make a real technical and cultural impact, this role was written for you.

Requirements

• 12 years of experience in software engineering, or 16 years in lieu of a B.S. in a technical discipline
• Extensive experience designing, building, and operating large-scale production systems
• Deep expertise in systems integration across diverse technologies and platforms
• Hands-on experience with cloud engineering in AWS
• Advanced proficiency with Kubernetes administration and deployment patterns
• Strong Python programming skills
• Experience implementing and scaling observability solutions (APM, OpenTelemetry, Grafana, Prometheus)
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence organizational change
• Experience developing technical policies and governance frameworks
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills
• Ability to balance hands-on engineering with leadership and coordination responsibilities
• An active TS//SCI clearance with polygraph

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AI inference serving technologies (vLLM, LiteLLM, or similar)
• Previous experience with agentic frameworks such as LangChain
• Knowledge of vector databases and embedding systems
• Experience with high-performance computing or distributed systems
• A track record of successfully driving technical and cultural change within engineering organizations

Responsibilities

• Designing, implementing, and optimizing infrastructure for AI model inference at scale
• Leading the development and maintenance of production AI services and applications — including retrieval augmented generation (RAG), autonomous agents, and emerging technologies
• Serving as the technical lead for AI infrastructure initiatives, coordinating work across integrated teams
• Conducting regular one-on-ones and providing coaching, feedback, and support for team members in your care
• Acting as the team's point of contact for contract administration functions
• Navigating ambiguity and defining solutions for complex, underspecified systems and requirements
• Establishing new technical policies, standards, and governance frameworks where gaps exist
• Driving adoption of new technologies and practices across engineering teams
• Implementing and overseeing monitoring, logging, and observability solutions for AI services
• Ensuring high availability, reliability, performance, and security of AI platform components
• Communicating clearly and effectively with stakeholders across multiple organizational levels

Benefits

• Pick your PTO — Everyone values time and money differently, so we give you the flexibility to choose between 3 and 5 weeks of PTO with a corresponding adjustment to your pay.
• All 11 federal holidays, paid!
• Up to 2 snow days, paid!
• 4x match on the first 6% of 401(k) contributions.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurances.
• $5,250 annual education assistance for training, certifications, tuition, and even student loan repayments.
• Spot bonuses for obtained certifications, customer recognition, and just about anything else that makes us go "Hot damn!".
• Flex income

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: High school or GED