Senior Software Engineer (Remote)

Kestrel Intelligence; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Kestrel Intelligence seeks a Senior Software Engineer to lead design and development of data structures, APIs, and components of an agentic AI architecture for scalable geospatial systems. You will set technical direction, influence architecture, and mentor teammates, operating at the bleeding edge of geospatial science.

Based in the United States, you will work on production Python services, cloud deployments with Terraform, and multi-cloud patterns, with occasional on-site work at customer

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience shipping production systems.
• Experience with API development and distributed/service-oriented systems.
• Experience designing large-scale software and infrastructure architecture.
• Must be a US Citizen.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain production-grade Python APIs and services.
• Architect scalable data processing pipelines for geospatial and sensor data.
• Develop components of Kestrel’s agentic AI architecture.
• Lead deployment of Python-based services to cloud environments, and design supporting infrastructure using Terraform.
• Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions.
• Establish engineering and infrastructure best practices from the ground up, including environment separation, secure networking, IAM, logging and monitoring.
• Apply AWS GovCloud and DoD IL experience to build compliant systems and guide future government deployments.
• Design multi-cloud deployment patterns with cloud-agnostic Terraform modules.
• Plan and advise on GovCloud/DoD IL deployments, even if not live yet.
• Identify and mitigate technical, infrastructure, and compliance risks early.
• Mentor engineers, lead code reviews, and shape the team's technical roadmap.

Skills

API development

Distributed systems

Large-scale architecture

Tools

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Job description

The Mission

At Kestrel, we are building the future of scalable autonomy across domains. Our systems enable commercial and national security customers to sense and act in support of complex missions without significant autonomous system expertise. This technology bridges domains (e.g., space, air, land, sea) and fields (e.g., AI, orbital dynamics, geospatial), so it requires a team with both breadth and depth in these related topics.

The Role

As a Senior Software Engineer at Kestrel, you will lead the design and development of data structures, data processing pipelines, APIs, components of an agentic AI architecture, and user interface components. You will set technical direction, make key architecture decisions, and raise the engineering bar across the team. You will work at the bleeding edge of geospatial science. This role requires adaptability, engineering rigor, and a deep respect for the mission.

Core Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain production-grade Python APIs and services that support distributed, service-oriented systems.
• Architect and implement scalable data processing pipelines for geospatial and sensor data.
• Develop and integrate components of Kestrel’s agentic AI architecture.
• Lead the deployment of Python-based services to cloud environments, and design supporting infrastructure using Terraform.
• Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions.
• Establish engineering and infrastructure best practices from the ground up, including environment separation (dev, staging, prod), secure networking, IAM, secrets management, logging, monitoring, and alerting.
• Apply prior AWS GovCloud and DoD IL experience to build compliance-ready systems and to make architecture choices that will not block future government deployments.
• Design software and deployment patterns that support multi-cloud environments, such as cloud-agnostic Terraform modules, minimal provider lock-in for core services, and future deployments across commercial cloud and GovCloud.
• Plan and advise on future AWS GovCloud and DoD IL deployments, even when those environments are not yet live.
• Identify and mitigate technical, infrastructure, and compliance risks early.
• Mentor other engineers, lead code reviews, and help shape the team’s technical roadmap.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping production systems.
• Strong experience with API development and distributed or service-oriented systems.
• Experience designing large-scale software and infrastructure architecture.

Bonus

• Prior experience designing or operating multi-cloud environments.
• Experience with geospatial data, agentic AI systems, or frontend development.
• Location near Colorado Springs, CO, or Washington, DC (with work at customer sites in Crystal City, VA, and Herndon, VA).
• Active Top Secret // Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS//SCI) clearance with a counterintelligence-scope polygraph (CSP) or full-scope polygraph (FSP).

Must be a US Citizen.