Senior Software Engineer – AI Infrastructure

Bitwise • Laurel, MD

5d

About The Position

An active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph is required for this role. 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. Bitwise hires talented engineers who are driven by purpose and who value a culture of technical excellence, growth, and overall wellness. We deliver new and innovative intelligence solutions to our customers at the very forefront of our country's national security missions. And we do it every single day. Our work matters, and so will you. We ask that every new hire be able to: Contribute meaningful thought leadership — if not right away, over time Interact with our customers and earn their confidence in your abilities Be detailed, even if that means taking a little more time to get it right Contribute their ideas and ideals to improve all aspects of our company Allow us to invest in their education so we both grow together Know and live our core values every single day. We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help build the next generation of AI infrastructure powering innovation across a critical national security mission. This is a senior full-stack role embedded in an AI platform organization, where you'll lead the development and operation of scalable inference services and the broader AI application ecosystem. This isn't just a heads-down engineering role — you'll also carry meaningful technical leadership responsibilities. That means serving as a tech lead for AI infrastructure initiatives, coordinating work across integrated teams, and providing coaching and support for a small group of engineers through regular one-on-ones and ongoing feedback. You'll also act as the team's point of contact for contract administration functions. Day to day, you'll be doing things like: 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 other emerging technologies Navigating ambiguity and defining solutions for complex, underspecified systems and requirements Establishing 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 effectively with stakeholders at multiple organizational levels If you're someone who thrives at the intersection of deep technical work and team leadership — and who gets energized building systems that genuinely matter — this is a role worth your attention.

Requirements

• 12 years of experience in software engineering, or 16 years in lieu of a B.S. in a technical discipline
• B.S. in a technical discipline (or 4 additional years of experience in place of the degree)
• 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
• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AI inference serving technologies such as vLLM or LiteLLM
• Previous experience with agentic frameworks like 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

• Contribute meaningful thought leadership — if not right away, over time
• Interact with our customers and earn their confidence in your abilities
• Be detailed, even if that means taking a little more time to get it right
• Contribute their ideas and ideals to improve all aspects of our company
• Allow us to invest in their education so we both grow together
• Know and live our core values every single day
• Lead the development and operation of scalable inference services and the broader AI application ecosystem
• Serve as a tech lead for AI infrastructure initiatives
• Coordinate work across integrated teams
• Provide coaching and support for a small group of engineers through regular one-on-ones and ongoing feedback
• Act as the team's point of contact for contract administration functions
• 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 other emerging technologies
• Navigating ambiguity and defining solutions for complex, underspecified systems and requirements
• Establishing 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 effectively with stakeholders at multiple organizational levels

Benefits

• Top salaries
• Pick your PTO — 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% contributed to 401(k) (up to 24% company match)
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurances
• Option to trade health insurance benefit for a salary boost
• $5,250 annual education assistance for training, certifications, tuition, and student loan repayments
• Spot bonuses for obtained certifications, customer recognition, and other achievements

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree