Senior Software Engineer (Backend)

Chaos Industries; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k company match

Free daily lunch

No meeting Fridays

Unlimited PTO

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Chaos Industries in San Francisco is seeking an experienced backend engineer to join a small, highly collaborative team building the software behind radar systems. You’ll design the backend services and data pipelines that turn raw sensor data into decisions people can act on, working closely with software, hardware, and systems engineers, onsite in SF.

You’ll bring strong Python backend experience (FastAPI), real-time streaming data know-how, and a passion for reliability, security, and

Qualifications

• Strong production experience building backend services in Python (FastAPI or similar).
• Experience with real-time or streaming data systems and distributed systems.
• Ownership of a production system end to end — design, shipping and maintaining it.
• Willingness to learn new technologies and adapt to new domains.
• Care deeply about reliability, security, and scalability.

Responsibilities

• Design backend services and data pipelines turning raw sensor data into decisions.
• Build edge-to-cloud data delivery and scalable backend components.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, and systems engineers onsite in SF.

Skills

Python

FastAPI

Distributed systems

Real-time data

Software design

Team collaboration

Tools

WebSockets

Azure

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with omniscient systems purpose-built for today’s realities. Designed and built by top U.S. military veterans and Silicon Valley innovators, CHAOS Industries’ products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. In a world where technological threats move at unprecedented speed, CHAOS Industries delivers advanced sensing and detection solutions that give the ultimate advantage: time.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised $1B in total funding from leading investors including 8VC, Accel, and NEA. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

The Role

You’ll join a small, highly collaborative team in San Francisco building the software behind some of the world's most advanced radar systems. Working alongside software, hardware, and systems engineers, and the teams who take these systems into the field, you’ll design the backend services and data pipelines that turn raw sensor data into decisions people can act on. We’re looking for builders who learn quickly and enjoy hard distributed systems and real-time data problems.

What You’ll Build

• Edge-to-Cloud Data Delivery - robust, low-latency systems that move sensor data from radars in the field, often over constrained bandwidth, to the services and operators that depend on it.
• Backend Services - high-performance Python (FastAPI) services that ingest, process, and distribute real-time sensor data reliably and securely at scale.
• Live and Replay Data - the streaming, storage, and replay of detections, tracks, and telemetry that power high-speed live views and playback of 3D geospatial data fused from multiple sensors.
• Fleet Orchestration - the coordination and decision‑making layer that optimizes how a growing fleet of sensors operates as conditions in the field change.
• Platform Architecture - help shape the technical direction of the platform, making architectural decisions that support new capabilities, increasing scale, and long‑term maintainability.

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for exceptional software engineers who are excited by hard technical problems and building systems that matter. Beyond our core stack, we care more about strong engineering fundamentals, curiosity, and the ability to learn quickly than about any specific technology.

You’ll thrive in this role if you:

• Have strong production experience building backend services in Python (FastAPI or similar).
• Have built real‑time or streaming data systems - message queues, WebSockets, time‑series data - and enjoy hard distributed systems problems.
• Have owned a production system end to end - designed it, shipped it, and fixed it when it broke.
• Are eager to learn new technologies and adapt to new technical domains.
• Care deeply about reliability, security, and scalability.
• Get real leverage from AI coding tools, with a considered view on what to delegate to them and what not to.
• Communicate well and enjoy collaborating across teams.

Experience in any of the following is a plus:

• Building geospatial or 3D data visualizations in TypeScript and React.
• Edge computing, or moving data reliably over constrained or unreliable networks.
• Azure or another major cloud platform.
• Hardware, sensors, robotics, telemetry, or defense systems.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen or permanent resident), as required for access to controlled technology.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
• Based in, or willing to relocate to, the San Francisco Bay Area. This role is onsite in our SF office.

Please note this position does not necessarily require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre‑IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices

$140k-240k

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

Export Controls

This position may require access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A “disabled veteran” is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three‑year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served in active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.