Software Engineer II (Data Pipelines & Event Processing)

Torch.AI; Leawood (KS); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Unlimited PTO

11 paid company holidays

Weekly in-office catering

Job summary

Torch.AI in Kansas/Leawood is seeking engineers to build production-grade backend systems that ingest and process large volumes of real-world data to support mission-critical decisions. You will design scalable data pipelines and backend services that transform diverse sources into structured, actionable insights.

The work emphasizes reliability, security, and controlled environments, with collaboration across platform, data, and security teams to meet compliance and performance goals.

Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 3–6 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python (preferred) or similar backend languages.
• Experience building production systems for data ingestion, integration, or processing.
• Experience with APIs, automated data access techniques, and distributed systems.
• Knowledge of ETL/ELT data pipelines and data formats (JSON, CSV, Parquet).
• Familiarity with SQL/NoSQL databases and query optimization.
• Understand secure software development practices and controlled data access.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and pipelines that acquire and process data from diverse data sources.
• Develop automated data access workflows using APIs, web interfaces, and distributed systems with controlled access constraints.
• Implement data transformation, enrichment, and normalization to support downstream analytics and mission apps.
• Build systems that monitor and respond to real-world events by collecting and updating data streams.
• Develop data fusion capabilities to improve completeness, context, and usability.
• Apply operational security practices to data acquisition and processing workflows.
• Implement safeguards to reduce attribution risk and ensure responsible data usage.
• Collaborate with platform, data, and security teams to meet compliance and auditability needs.
• Optimize performance, scalability, and resilience of data systems.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments, and automated testing workflows.
• Troubleshoot production issues and perform root-cause analysis across distributed systems.
• Document system behavior, data flows, and integration patterns for maintainability.
• Participate in code reviews and engineering standards.

Skills

Python

Backend systems

APIs

Data pipelines

CI/CD

Security practices

Distributed systems

Education

B.S./M.S. in Computer Science or related

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Airflow

NiFi

Kafka

AWS

Job description

The world’s most consequential systems need the world’s best builders.

A new era is taking shape. AI is no longer confined to models or interfaces. It is becoming the foundation of how decisions are made across governments, industries, and real-world environments. What matters now is not just access to capability, but how it is applied, controlled, and sustained over time.

Torch.AI builds a government-owned reasoning infrastructure which creates a Reasoning Layer to enable machine reasoning at scale, in environments where it is hardest to achieve and least tolerant of failure. This is not incremental software. It is long-term infrastructure designed to endure, integrate, and evolve alongside the systems it supports.

Not another dashboard. Not another workflow app. Not another black-box model glued to a PowerPoint.

The Reasoning Layer is a modular architecture where data is connected, governed, transformed, represented, fused, reasoned over, and delivered into mission applications and operational workflows. It does not replace systems of record. It enables them to function better together.

The Reasoning Layer is comprised of: ORCUS (ingestion, orchestration, governance), NEXUS (semantic representation, vectorization), HALO (graph-based fusion and reasoning) and various product and capability components deployed for specific customer use cases.

We are seeking candidates who approach problems creatively, are comfortable operating without full clarity, and take responsibility for outcomes, not just implementation.

If you’re driven to strengthen U.S. defense readiness and protect national interests, Torch.AI offers meaningful impact at national scale.

Responsibilities

This role focuses on building production-grade software systems that ingest, process, and enrich large volumes of real-world data to support mission-critical decision making. You will develop scalable data pipelines and backend services that transform diverse, multi-source information into structured, actionable insights.

The work emphasizes reliability, adaptability, and operational security. Systems are designed to run continuously, handle evolving data sources, and operate within controlled environments that require careful handling of access patterns, attribution, and compliance constraints.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and pipelines that acquire and process data from diverse data sources.
• Develop automated data access workflows using APIs, web interfaces, and distributed systems while adhering to controlled access and usage constraints.
• Implement data transformation, enrichment, and normalization processes to support downstream analytics and mission applications.
• Build systems that monitor and respond to real-world events by collecting, correlating, and updating relevant data streams.
• Develop data fusion capabilities that combine multiple sources to improve data completeness, context, and usability.
• Apply operational security practices to data acquisition and processing workflows, including controlled access patterns, traffic shaping, and protection of system and infrastructure.
• Implement safeguards that reduce attribution risk and ensure responsible interaction with external data sources.
• Collaborate with platform, data, and security teams to ensure systems meet compliance, auditability, and mission requirements.
• Optimize performance, scalability, and resilience of data acquisition and processing systems.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, containerized deployments, and automated testing workflows.
• Troubleshoot production issues and perform root-cause analysis across distributed systems.
• Document system behavior, data flows, and integration patterns to support maintainability and operational use.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards and best practices.

Core Skills & Qualifications

• B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 3–6 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Strong proficiency in Python (preferred) or similar backend programming languages.
• Experience building production systems for data ingestion, integration, or processing.
• Experience working with APIs, automated data access techniques, and distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of data pipeline patterns, including ETL/ELT workflows.
• Experience working with structured and semi-structured data formats (JSON, CSV, Parquet).
• Familiarity with SQL and NoSQL databases and query optimization.
• Experience designing systems that operate reliably under variable data availability and latency conditions.
• Familiarity with cloud environments (AWS preferred) and containerization (Docker).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and modern software development practices.
• Understanding of secure software development practices and controlled data access patterns.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to operate in fast-paced, mission-driven environments.

Additional Valuable Experience

• Experience with workflow orchestration tools (Airflow, NiFi) or similar systems.
• Experience with streaming or event-driven architectures (Kafka or equivalent).
• Familiarity with large-scale data ingestion, indexing, or search systems.
• Experience working with geospatial, temporal, or multi-source datasets.
• Exposure to data enrichment, entity resolution, or relationship mapping techniques.
• Experience implementing controlled or privacy-aware data acquisition techniques.
• Familiarity with infrastructure patterns that support identity protection, request management, or traffic routing in distributed systems.
• Experience supporting defense, intelligence, or other regulated environments.
• Familiarity with distributed systems and microservices architectures.
• Exposure to observability tooling (logging, monitoring, metrics).

Compensation, Benefits, Incentives

We offer competitive, performance-aligned compensation tied to technical depth, clearance level, and mission impact.

Total Rewards Include

• Competitive base salary
• Quarterly performance bonuses
• Equity participation within the first 12 months
• Unlimited PTO + 11 paid company holidays
• Professional development in a high-growth, mission-driven environment
• Weekly in-office catering at HQ

Benefits

• 401(k) plan (no current employer match, but under consideration)
• PPO, HSA, and TRICARE Supplement medical options
• Above-market HSA contributions
• HSA, FSA, and Dependent Care FSA options
• Dental and vision plans above national averages
• Employer-paid life insurance (1× salary)
• Employer-paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
• Voluntary Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity coverage
• Up to $300/month in tax-advantaged commuter benefits

Torch.AI is an Equal Opportunity / Aff