Senior Software Engineer

Defense Unicorns

4h•Remote

About The Position

Defense Unicorns seeks an experienced Software Engineer to join our UDS Product Engineering team. You’ll collaborate closely with product managers, designers, and end users to ensure we’re building the right solutions, and building them well. As a Software Engineer, you’ll operate at the intersection of product development and technical execution. You’ll lead the design, implementation, and deployment of features and systems that have direct impact on mission outcomes. Our engineers work across a portfolio that includes UDS Registry, to reliably manage and deploy UDS packages to any mission environment; Zarf, an open source tool that enables continuous software delivery on disconnected systems; and Fleet, to deliver a solution purpose-built for Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) and fully airgapped environments, supporting large, distributed sets of Kubernetes clusters and edge systems across the battlespace and classification levels. The UDS Product Engineering team values action, ownership, and focus, taking initiative to see work through from idea to impact.

Requirements

3 (Mid) or 5+ (Senior) years experience with software engineering
Proficiency in Go or other modern programming languages
Strong understanding of system design, library and software APIs, databases, and cloud architecture (e.g., AWS, Azure)
Experience building software tools with a core focus on software lifecycle and management
Experience with Supply Chain Security (e.g., SBOMs, security scanning, etc.)
Familiar with core Kubernetes concepts including Controllers, Operators, and CRDs
Experience contributing to open source projects—participating in CNCF, Apache Software Foundation (ASF), or OpenSSF is a huge plus
Ability to assess complex problems, propose pragmatic solutions, and drive them to completion
Strong communication and collaboration skills; comfortable conveying technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences

Responsibilities

Work with engineers internal to the company, and within the open source community on feature and bug fix requests through clear communication, collaboration, and responsible stewardship
Influence product direction through deep understanding of user needs and system constraints, partnering with Product and Design to translate requirements into clear, actionable technical deliverables
Lead the design, implementation, and deployment of features and systems with direct mission impact—taking ownership from idea through delivery
Engage with the open source community, industry partners, and standards bodies via common platforms (e.g., Slack, GitHub) to drive our open source projects forward
Amplify the voice of our projects within the ecosystem by delivering a mission-focused end-user experience and collaborating with users to produce case studies, blogs, or conference presentations
Proactively identify and resolve ambiguity in product requirements
Own architecture decisions and ensure technical quality across the engineering team
Participate in on-call rotation for our production environment
Develop comprehensive documentation, including design specifications, user manuals, and maintenance guides
Integrate software products with existing defense systems, ensuring seamless interoperability and adherence to security protocols
Provide technical mentorship and elevate engineering standards across the team
Directly support our dependencies and engage in contributions that elevate the ecosystems that we depend on
Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends to inform product enhancements and innovation
Work proactively, manage time efficiently, and thrive in a vibrant remote work environment ✨🦄
Travel Expectations/Requirements: 5-15%
The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise.