Software Engineer – C++/Python

General Matter; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

General Matter in Los Angeles is seeking a General Matter Software Engineer to develop high-performance, safe software controlling complex systems. You will write C++ and Python, work with cross-functional teams of engineers, and tackle safety-critical challenges in a fast-paced, skunkworks-like environment.

You will design, implement, test, and deploy production-grade software, mentor others, and participate in design reviews while balancing performance, reliability, and maintainability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, Engineering, or equivalent with 5+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Deep proficiency in C++ and Python, with strong Linux understanding and performance awareness.
• Solid CS fundamentals in algorithms, data structures, concurrency, and system design.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-performance, production-grade software systems in C++ and Python.
• Architect complex solutions, balancing design decisions, performance, and technology selection.
• Lead design and code reviews, set engineering best practices across the team.
• Build and maintain automated testing and CI/CD pipelines for quality at scale.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers while solving complex technical problems.

Skills

C++

Python

Linux systems

Algorithms and data structures

Concurrency

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent

Tools

CI/CD

Observability tooling

Infrastructure as code

Profiling tools

Job description

About The Company

General Matter enriches uranium.

We are designing, building, and operating the world's lowest-cost enrichment services, here in the US.

In the process, we are restoring America's ability to produce nuclear fuel to power AI, advanced manufacturing and critical industries our country relies on to remain competitive.

Fuel drives the cost of advanced reactor electricity production, and enrichment drives the cost of the fuel that advanced reactors consume. Reliable, low-cost enrichment is the catalyst for the nuclear Renaissance now under way.

Our mssion is to make nuclear not only the cleanest and safest source of baseload power, but also the most affordable. We believe abundant nuclear energy will lead to a post-scarcity society.

We were incubated inside Founders Fund, like Anduril and Palantir before us, and are backed by over a dozen of the world's top venture capital firms.

Our lean, world-class team of engineers and operators is applying a first-principles approach to solving the problem of nuclear fuel production.

We are a mission-driven company with a culture of urgency, accountability, and transparency.

Help us build a high-energy society by making the cleanest, safest form of baseload energy the most affordable.

About This Role

As a General Matter Software Engineer, you will develop performant, safe and high-quality software to directly control our systems. Your code will be responsible for commanding actuators and processing high-speed signals in applications where safety and accuracy are exceedingly important. You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including electrical engineers, software engineers, chemical engineers, manufacturing engineers, nuclear engineers, materials scientists and physicists. If you seek high-impact and are excited by fast-paced, intense, Skunkworks-style projects, we encourage you to reach out to join our team.

We're Hiring Engineers Across Three Focus Areas

Backend engineers will build high-performance services and APIs that coordinate control systems, manage state across distributed hardware, and expose interfaces for monitoring and operations.

Distributed systems engineers will architect fault-tolerant coordination systems, real-time data pipelines processing high-throughput sensor telemetry, and the infrastructure that keeps critical systems running reliably at scale.

Tooling engineers will develop the developer platforms, CI/CD systems, observability tools, and deployment infrastructure that let our team iterate rapidly and safely in a production environment where mistakes have physical consequences.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement high-performance, production-grade software systems in C++ and Python, with a strong focus on reliability and maintainability
• Architect complex solutions from the ground up, making principled decisions around system design, performance trade-offs, and technology selection
• Lead technical design reviews and code reviews, setting and enforcing engineering best practices across the team
• Build and maintain automated testing and CI/CD pipelines to ensure software quality at scale
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers while driving independent progress on complex, ambiguous technical problems

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent, with 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Deep proficiency in C++ and/or Python, including language internals, performance characteristics, and idiomatic usage
• Strong understanding of Linux internals - process management, memory models, I/O, and system calls - and how they influence software design and performance
• Strong CS fundamentals - algorithms, data structures, concurrency, and system design
• Demonstrated ownership of large, production-grade systems with evidence of exceptional technical ability

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Experience with distributed systems, observability tooling, and infrastructure as code
• Proficiency in Python ecosystems for data pipelines, automation, or backend services
• Experience with C++ performance optimization, profiling, and low-level systems programming
• Experience with Linux system programming, including threading models, IPC, real-time process management, and low-level kernel interfaces
• Comfort across the full software development lifecycle, from design through deployment

Additional Requirements

• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.

Equal Opportunity Employer

General Matter is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with General Matter is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Compensation And Benefits

The base salary range for this role is $100,000-$200,000 annually. Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. Please note that the stated salary range is an estimate and may be adjusted based on market conditions, business needs, or other factors. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.