Founding Software Engineer – Aviation AI & Real-Time Systems

davidjoseph-co; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flight training reimbursement

Early-stage equity

Impact on pilots and training

Architectural ownership

Job summary

Navi in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Software Engineer to own end-to-end backend systems and data pipelines powering the AI debrief platform for flight training and military use. The role involves architecture, scale, and shipping production systems used by pilots and instructors.

This founding position offers real ownership, equity, and the chance to shape engineering culture while delivering code that handles aviation data in real time.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Design, build, and operate complex systems in production.
• Lead projects end to end from scoping through launch and iteration.
• Deep expertise in backend systems, distributed infrastructure, data engineering, or full-stack development.
• Design systems for scale, reliability, and performance.
• Make architectural decisions with strong engineering judgment.
• Raise the bar for teams through code reviews and mentorship.
• Operate in ambiguity and move fast without sacrificing quality.
• Build backend and data infrastructure for AI platform.
• Integrate flight dynamics, telemetry, and cockpit audio into systems.
• Make architecture calls that define company scaling.
• Ship code that goes live in aircraft.
• Interface with engineers across the entire stack.
• Work directly with pilots, instructors, and military operators.
• Translate operator needs into engineering decisions.

Responsibilities

• Build and scale the backend and data infrastructure powering Navi's AI debrief platform.
• Integrate flight dynamics, telemetry, and cockpit audio into intelligent debrief and training systems.
• Make architecture calls that define Navi's scale as the company grows.
• Collaborate with pilots, instructors, and military operators to translate feedback into engineering decisions.
• Ship production code across the full stack and iterate on operator feedback.
• Lay groundwork for a technical team and define engineering culture and standards.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

Backend

Distributed infra

Data engineering

Full-stack

Architectural ownership

Mentorship

Leadership

Ambiguity tolerance

Tools

AWS

CI/CD

Containerization

Job description

Navi in San Francisco is seeking a Founding Software Engineer to own end-to-end backend systems and data pipelines powering the AI debrief platform for flight training and military use. The role involves architecture, scale, and shipping production systems used by pilots and instructors.

This founding position offers real ownership, equity, and the chance to shape engineering culture while delivering code that handles aviation data in real time.