Software Engineer - Backend

Manifold Industries; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with matching

Comprehensive medical, dental, and视ion

Unlimited PTO

Health & Wellness stipend

Lunch stipend 3x per week and dinner

Company-wide break the last two weeks

Supportive leave of absence

Job summary

Manifold Industries is seeking a Software Engineer to build the core architecture and foundational systems powering our software for government decision-makers. You will own authentication, authorization, data storage, APIs, and shared services to enable rapid, secure product development.

You will work with our founding engineering team to turn a fast-evolving prototype into a scalable production application. Expect high ownership and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering fundamentals across backend, APIs, and data storage.
• Experience designing, testing, and deploying production software for real customers.
• Ability to own complex engineering projects from design to production deployment.
• Strong systems design skills with tradeoff evaluation for scalability, security, and maintainability.
• Demonstrated initiative and judgment in ambiguity and fast-moving environments.
• U.S.-based U.S. citizen.

Responsibilities

• Build core foundation: authentication, RBAC, data storage, APIs, and shared services.
• Design scalable architecture to support evolving product and multi-customer deployments.
• Own backend systems end-to-end from requirements through production deployment.
• Establish engineering standards: automated tests, API contracts, maintainable systems.
• Enable rapid product development with reusable components and services.
• Collaborate with Founding Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineers, and Platform Engineers.

Skills

Backend services

APIs

Database-backed apps

System design

Security awareness

Independent ownership

Tools

Python

FastAPI

PostgreSQL

Neo4j

Next.js

Job description

About Manifold

Strategy is the act of choosing what to do when you can’t know enough to be sure. Manifold builds software for the people making those decisions on behalf of the United States. The ones whose decisions shape the next decade, not the next quarter.

This work is still done largely by hand, by smart people with slide decks, spreadsheets, and instinct. We think it should be done with better tools. Not tools that make the decisions, but tools that sharpen the judgement of the people responsible for them. Cognitive enhancement, in the literal sense.

Manifold is looking for a Software Engineer to build the core architecture and foundational systems powering our software.

You will own the application infrastructure that enables our product to operate as secure, reliable, production-grade software. This includes authentication, authorization, data storage, APIs, application services, and the systems that allow us to rapidly build and deploy new capabilities.

This is an early, high-ownership role. You will work closely with our founding engineering team to turn a rapidly evolving prototype into a scalable production application used by government decision-makers. You will independently design, build, and ship major systems while helping shape the technical architecture of the product.

What You Will Do

Build the foundation of our core application: Design and implement authentication, role-based access control, data storage, permissioning, API integrations, and the shared services that power our software.

Design scalable application architecture: Make technical decisions about service boundaries, data models, APIs, and system design to support an evolving product and multiple customer deployments.

Own backend systems end-to-end: Take foundational capabilities from loosely defined requirements through technical design, implementation, testing, and production deployment.

Establish application engineering standards: Build automated tests, define clear API contracts, and develop maintainable systems that enable the team to ship quickly without sacrificing correctness.

Enable rapid product development: Build reusable components, interfaces, and services that allow our engineers to rapidly develop new applications and customer‑specific workflows without compromising the core platform.

Collaborate across engineering: Work closely with our Founding Engineer on domain‑specific capabilities, Forward Deployed Engineers on customer requirements, and Platform Engineers on production deployment and infrastructure.

Required Qualifications

• Strong software engineering fundamentals, with deep experience building backend services, APIs, and database‑backed applications.

• Experience designing, implementing, testing, and deploying production software used by real customers.

• Ability to independently own complex engineering projects from technical design through production deployment.

• Strong systems design skills and the ability to evaluate architectural tradeoffs across scalability, performance, security, and maintainability.

• Demonstrated initiative, sound technical judgment, and the ability to execute in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments.

• U.S.-based U.S. citizen

Preferred Qualifications

• Security Clearance

• Experience building a production, user‑facing application from the ground up, ideally as an early engineer at a startup.

• Experience designing and implementing foundational application systems, including authentication, authorization, data persistence, and API integrations.

• Experience making significant architectural decisions and owning major backend systems end‑to‑end.

• Experience designing extensible application architectures that support multiple products, workflows, or customers.

• Experience working on small, high‑ownership engineering teams with rapidly evolving product requirements.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Neo4j, or Next.js.

• Experience with multi‑tenant applications, fine‑grained access controls, or complex data permissioning.

• Experience with frontend development using React, TypeScript, or similar technologies.

• Experience building software for government, defense, or other security‑sensitive environments.

Benefits

• 401(k) with matching

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents

• Unlimited PTO

• Health & Wellness stipend

• Lunch stipend 3 times per week and dinner stipend after 8 p.m.

• Company-wide break the last two weeks of the year

• Supportive leave of absence including time off for military service, medical events, and parental leave