Principal Software Engineer

Prevail Recruiting; California; Remote; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity 1.0%–2.0% (fully diluted)

One-month paid onboarding

Job summary

Prevail Recruiting is seeking the founding engineer for an early-stage aerospace software platform. You will own backend and frontend delivery, shaping architecture, and collaborating directly with the founder.

The role offers significant ownership, equity of 1.0%–2.0%, a paid one-month onboarding period, and a chance to ship a production-grade AI-powered platform for hardware teams on demanding timelines. Based in the United States, the position is fully remote with occasional Los Angeles area

Qualifications

• This role requires deep backend experience and ability to ship end-to-end systems.
• You will own architecture decisions and translate problems into scalable designs.
• Experience with AI coding agents and LLM-powered applications is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build and ship the platform, focusing on backend first and frontend later.
• Shape architecture, run deployments, and deliver a reliable product.
• Collaborate directly with the founder and iterate with customer feedback.

Skills

Backend depth

Product builder

Architecture judgment

Agentic coding tools

LLM experience

Independent ownership

Tools

Python

Job description

We are an early-stage aerospace engineering software company building an AI-powered platform to help hardware teams move from concept to manufacturable design 10–100x faster. Our approach transforms sequential engineering workflows into parallel processes, helping teams evaluate designs, make decisions, and prepare for manufacturing more efficiently.

We are developing the platform alongside aerospace companies solving complex, mission-critical engineering challenges on demanding timelines.

The founder brings 13 years of hardware development leadership at SpaceX, Relativity, and Lilium. The company is advancing its approach through a NASA SBIR Ignite Phase I program and commercial aerospace and defense work.

The role

This is a full-time founding engineer opportunity beginning with a paid working period.

• One-month paid working period, followed by a full-time offer.
• Meaningful equity as part of the expected full-time package.
• First technical employee, working directly with the founder.

You will be the founder’s software counterpart, taking ownership of building and shipping the platform. The founder brings product vision, aerospace hardware expertise, and direct feedback from engineering customers. You bring the software engineering depth, architectural judgment, and execution needed to turn that vision into a reliable product.

This role offers significant ownership and growth potential in an early-stage environment where priorities evolve and requirements are often incomplete.

The initial focus is backend development, with responsibility extending to frontend functionality, deployment, and overall product delivery. You will also work with the founder to establish an AI-enabled software development process, with substantial freedom to select and build the agentic coding tools that support the company’s growth.

Who we’re looking for

• Backend depth with whole-product judgment. You have designed and shipped production systems and can translate a user problem into a data model, interface, runtime, deployment, and measurable outcome. Python is the primary language today, with room to shape future technology decisions.
• A relentless product builder. You understand the broader customer problem, make progress amid ambiguity, and iterate based on real customer needs. You take ownership of outcomes from initial concept through delivery.
• Strong product and architecture judgment. You evaluate whether the team is building the right solution before optimizing implementation. You balance speed, reliability, maintainability, and customer value.
• Exceptional use of agentic coding tools. You use AI coding agents to produce high-quality software that works, is understandable, and can scale. You know when to delegate to agents, when to apply human judgment, and how to review and verify their work.
• Production experience with LLMs and agentic systems. You have hands-on experience developing, deploying, and operating LLM-powered applications and agentic workflows, with a strong understanding of reliability and verification in mission-critical settings.
• Independent ownership and clear communication. You can work directly with a technical founder, turn incomplete direction into a recommendation, explain tradeoffs clearly, and demonstrate progress through working software.

Nice to have

• Experience in a regulated industry such as aerospace, defense, medical technology, or financial technology.
• Prior early-stage startup experience.

Location and arrangement

• Based in the United States; U.S. citizenship required.
• Fully remote. Availability for occasional Los Angeles-area meetings is a plus, but is not required.
• Full-time commitment, with flexibility and heavier periods around SBIR and customer milestones.
• Daily asynchronous communication through Slack or a similar tool, three to five short meetings per week, and one weekly written summary.

Compensation

• Base salary: $150,000–$190,000, depending on experience and final role scope.
• Equity: Expected range of 1.0%–2.0% on a fully diluted basis, normally vesting over four years with a one-year cliff.
• The one-month paid working period will be compensated at the monthly equivalent of the agreed base salary.