Full Stack AI Software Engineer, Portugal

ICEYE; United States; Hybrid; USD 63,000 - 109,000; Full time

Job summary

ICEYE Portugal is seeking a Full Stack AI Software Engineer to turn satellite intelligence into mission‑critical decisions, from data models to intuitive interfaces. The role is hybrid from Lisbon, with potential travel for deployment and client work.

You will help scale systems for global intelligence operations and pursue a Forward Deployed Engineer path with embedded customer work. You should have 2–7 years in software engineering, strong Python and React/TypeScript, and be eligible for

Qualifications

• 2–7 years of professional software engineering, shipping production systems end to end.
• Degree in Computer Science or related technical field — or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• Full-stack capability: Python backend and React/TypeScript frontend.
• Strong systems architecture fundamentals for reliable, observable, and scalable services.
• Strong SQL and relational/spatial database design and optimization.
• Experience with AI: LLMs, RAG, and AI‑native workflows.
• Networking fundamentals: latency, protocols, data movement.
• Hands‑on with Linux and Docker; familiarity with Kubernetes and CI/CD.
• Ability to ship fast and own code outcomes.
• Excellent English communication; Portuguese proficiency; eligible for security clearances.

Responsibilities

• Design deterministic multi-agent orchestration for edge environments.
• Develop geospatial RAG with cross-modal feeds for air-gapped systems.
• Optimize large-scale geospatial data queries for low latency.
• Integrate AI into workflows with observable, scalable services.
• Collaborate across cloud and on‑prem deployments.

Job description

Role highlights:

• Role: Full Stack AI Software Engineer
• Department: Engineering
• Location: Portugal (Lisbon), must be based in-country
• Reports to: CEO ICEYE Portugal
• Working type: Hybrid
• Career path: Launchpad into ICEYE's Forward Deployed Engineering track (embedded, customer-facing, higher travel)
• Must be eligible and able to attain relevant national and NATO security clearances
• Excellent communication skills in English, and C2 / near-native proficiency in Portuguese.

Why this role matters

You are the technical engine of ICEYE Portugal. You build the software that turns raw satellite intelligence into mission-critical decisions, full-stack, from robust data models to intuitive interfaces. This isn't just a feature-building role; you are architecting the reliability and scale required for global intelligence operations.

This is also a launchpad. It is where strong engineers build deep product and platform expertise and then grow into Forward Deployed Engineers, embedded directly with defence and intelligence customers, deploying and developing ICEYE's platform in the field. We are hiring builders who want the foundations now and the frontier next.

The Technical Challenges You’ll Tackle

We are architecting systems at the intersection of earth observation intelligence and distributed AI. You will own the implementation of complex services designed for high-stakes, resource-constrained operational environments, including:

• Deterministic Agentic Orchestration: Engineering stateful, multi-agent workflows that move beyond simple inference to provide reliable outcomes in non-deterministic environments. You will build systems that resolve cross-modal semantic conflicts between high-resolution SAR signatures and heterogeneous SIGINT/OSINT feeds directly at the edge.
• Geospatial RAG & Distributed Vector Consistency: Architecting hybrid RAG systems that maintain strict semantic alignment and vector consistency across air-gapped and DDIL (Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited) environments, ensuring mission-critical data remains actionable without persistent cloud connectivity.
• High-Concurrency Spatial Engineering: Optimizing geospatial data performance via advanced indexing and query tuning to enable ultra-low latency spatial analysis over massive satellite datasets within highly constrained hardware profiles.
• AI & Mission Intelligence: Integrate AI into real workflows and products where it improves decisions and use AI-native engineering tooling day to day including services, APIs, and data flows that are reliable, observable, and scalable across cloud and on-prem environments.

What we're looking for

Must-haves

• 2–7 years of professional software engineering, shipping production systems end to end.
• Degree in Computer Science, Aerospace, Electrical / Electronic Engineering, or a related technical field — or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• Full-stack capability: strong backend (Python required, plus a typed language such as Go, TypeScript, or Rust) and comfort building modern web front ends (e.g., React / TypeScript).
• Strong systems architecture fundamentals: designing services, APIs, and data flows that are reliable, observable, and scalable.
• Solid database design and data modelling (relational, ideally spatial), able to write and optimise SQL.
• Fully proficient with AI: building on LLMs, RAG, and AI‑powered workflows, and working fluently with AI‑native engineering tools.
• Networking foundations: comfortable reasoning about protocols, latency, and data movement across networks.
• Hands‑on with Linux and Docker; familiarity with Kubernetes, CI/CD, and infrastructure as code.
• High‑intensity builder mindset: you thrive on shipping fast, iterating based on real‑world mission needs, and owning the outcome of your code.
• Excellent communication in English (written and spoken), plus C2 / near-native Portuguese.
• Eligible and able to attain relevant national and NATO security clearances.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with geospatial data, satellite imagery, or remote sensing (GDAL, Rasterio, PostGIS, GeoJSON, COG, Cesium).
• Experience with observability (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry), event‑driven systems (e.g., NATS), and auth standards (OAuth, OIDC, JWT).
• Experience in model inference and throughput optimization on local hardware
• Experience deploying to secure / isolated / air‑gapped environments.
• Experience in defence, intelligence, or government operational environments.
• Signal / RF, embedded, or edge‑to‑cloud systems background (EE / aerospace crossover).
• Genuine interest in a Forward Deployed path — working embedded with customers on mission‑critical problems.

Application process

• Talent Acquisition Interview
• Take home task
• Hiring Manager Interview
• Hiring Team Interview
• Offer Decision

Working at ICEYE

At ICEYE, you’ll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale‑up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from