Software Engineer, AI Engineering Workflows

Focused; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Innovative technology and mission

Career development opportunities

Collaborative culture

Unlimited PTO

401k matching plan

State-of-the-art equipment

Job summary

Focused Energy is looking for a Software Engineer II in Austin, Texas to improve software engineering productivity through AI-assisted tools. You'll design and deploy developer tools, ensuring code quality and reliability as we scale rapidly across geographies.

This position involves leading technical discussions, writing clear documentation, and collaborating with other teams to enhance productivity. Join us in our mission to drive clean energy innovation!

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted development tools.
• Experience in software quality practices and automated testing.
• Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Python or C++.

Responsibilities

• Design and maintain AI-assisted developer productivity tools.
• Lead technical design discussions around AI-generated code.
• Collaborate with software teams to debug complex issues.

Skills

AI-assisted development tools

Software automation

Automated testing

Modern CI/CD pipelines

Python

C++

Job description

Focused Energy is building the future of clean energy through laser-driven inertial fusion. Backed by our $240M Series A — the largest fully secured Series A in the global fusion industry — we are scaling rapidly across multiple geographies.

Based in Germany and the US, we have brought together the top scientific and engineering minds using proven technologies to unlock fusion power at commercial scale. Focused Energy is working to realize game-changing scientific innovation that promises to deliver a clean, sustainable and abundant source of power globally.

Your Role

Focused Energy is looking for a Software Engineer II to join our team and help scale software engineering productivity across the company. As we grow rapidly across multiple geographies, the adoption of AI-assisted development tools needs a coordinated, reliable approach — without it, we risk inconsistent practices, duplicated effort, and code quality issues across projects.

In this role, you will design, build, and deploy automated developer tooling, internal AI workflows, and software agents that act as productivity multipliers for our software team. Over the next 6–18 months, you'll help define how Focused Energy adopts AI-assisted and agentic coding tools responsibly, raising the bar on code quality, testing, and reliability as the engineering org scales.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and maintain AI-assisted developer productivity tools, code quality automation, and modern CI/CD infrastructure.

• Translate software development requirements into clear software designs, internal developer APIs, and repository templates.

• Lead technical design discussions and establish safe, practical standards for using AI-generated code and agentic tools across the department.

• Proactively address code quality, testing, and reliability gaps by building robust automated testing frameworks and code-review gating systems.

• Write clear runbooks, documentation, and training guides to help engineering teams adopt AI-assisted development tools responsibly.

• Collaborate with other software teams to systematically debug complex issues across system boundaries and ensure safe release processes.

Who You Are

• An independent software engineer who can own a distinct system, feature, or service from design to production.

• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted development tools and writing software automation or integrations.

• Experience in software quality practices, automated testing, code review, and modern CI/CD pipelines.

• Write clean, readable, and documented code that follows established engineering patterns.

• Proficiency in modern programming languages (such as Python, C++) and web service development.

• Solid understanding of software architecture, APIs, repository structure, and CI/CD automation.

• Communicate complex technical concepts in simple, clear language to both technical and non-technical partners.

• Effective in ambiguous or changing priority environments and translate loose needs into structured software plans.

• High curiosity and an active growth mindset to learn new technical domains.

• Provide constructive, detailed feedback in code reviews and mentor other engineers on tooling and best practices.

• Preferred: experience building developer experience platforms, internal tools, repository templates, or custom engineering infrastructure.

• Preferred: experience with agentic coding frameworks, prompt engineering, or LLM-based development APIs.

• Preferred: experience in high-complexity engineering environments where software closely interacts with hardware or scientific instruments.

What We Offer

• Innovative Technology & Mission: Be part of a cutting-edge company working on groundbreaking research in clean energy and scientific discovery.

• Career Development: We invest in our people. This is an opportunity to join an early, growing company at the forefront of new technology, where you’ll have the opportunity to develop and grow your career.

• Collaborative Culture: Work with great people in a dynamic, international environment with top-tier scientists, engineers and professionals passionate about solving global challenges.

• Ownership: Take ownership from day 1 and drive impact by making decisions, solving challenges and shaping the future of our company.

• Your Success is our Success: We offer a competitive salary and company ownership in the form of stock options, giving you a direct stake in our success and ownership in what we build together.

• Medical, Dental, Vision: Multiple great plans to pick from that are active come the 1st Day of employment for you and any enrolled dependents.

• Vacation Days: We support your work-life-balance by granting you Unlimited PTO.

• Snacks and Drinks: Our office fridges are never empty. Enjoy our healthy snacks and drinks.

• Retirement Plan: If you decide to enroll in our 401k plan, we will match up to 4% on top of the employee contribution.

• Equipment: We offer state-of-the-art Windows or Apple Laptops. In addition, you will receive a keyboard, mouse and headset so you are fully equipped from day 1.

• Events: We organize regular events to foster team bonding, encourage collaboration, and build a strong, supportive company culture. Connect with colleagues across departments, share ideas, and have fun together, both in and outside of the workplace.

Focused Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Focused Energy will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, benefits.