Staff Software Engineer - Backend / Python / API

Strativ Group; Washington, Baltimore (District of Columbia, MD); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Strativ Group is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to architect and implement the distributed backend services powering large-scale simulation and AI-driven modelling. You will design high-performance Python systems, orchestrate simulations, and ensure reliability across multi-cloud environments for defence and autonomous platforms.

You will collaborate with researchers and systems engineers, own API design (REST/GraphQL/gRPC), and lead production deployments on AWS.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience building production backend services with Python.
• Experience designing scalable APIs (REST, GraphQL, gRPC).
• Experience designing distributed systems for large-scale data processing or simulation workloads.
• Experience building data-intensive backend systems integrating with multiple systems.

Responsibilities

• Architect distributed backend services for large-scale simulation workloads.
• Build high-performance Python services to orchestrate complex environments.
• Collaborate with AI researchers and systems engineers to ensure scalable deployments.

Skills

Python backend

APIs REST/GraphQL/gRPC

Distributed systems

Data pipelines

AWS

Job description

A Frontier AI startup backed by $170m in funding is hiring a Staff Software Engineer to build the distributed backend systems powering next-generation modelling & simulation platforms for defence and autonomous systems. Their technology enables engineers to develop, validate and deploy AI-generated software inside high-fidelity virtual environments, allowing autonomous systems to be tested at scale before deployment into the real world. This is a rare chance to join at a pivotal stage of growth, working alongside a team that has already assembled some of the most credible technical talent in the industry. The team includes alumni from OpenAI, Google Research, Microsoft AI and NASA, combining deep foundation model research with world-class systems engineering and mathematical expertise.

This is a hands-on, deeply technical position focused on architecting the distributed backend services that underpins large-scale simulation workloads and autonomous AI agents. You'll be building high-performance Python services responsible for orchestrating complex simulation environments, managing distributed execution, processing vast volumes of simulation data, and ensuring the reliability and scalability of mission-critical systems. The simulations model real-world environments where autonomous software can be exercised against changing terrain, sensor inputs, communications constraints and adversarial conditions, allowing engineers to rapidly evaluate, iterate and validate new capabilities. You'll work closely with AI researchers, systems engineers and simulation specialists to ensure these environments can operate efficiently across large distributed compute clusters while supporting next-generation autonomous software development.

Experience Required:

• 7+ years' experience building production backend services and applications with Python
• Strong experience designing and developing scalable APIs and backend services (REST, GraphQL, gRPC or similar)
• Experience designing distributed systems and service-oriented architectures that support large-scale data processing, compute or simulation workloads
• Experience building data-intensive backend systems, pipelines, or services that integrate with multiple systems and expose results to downstream users or applications
• Experience deploying and operating production backend services in cloud environments (AWS preferred)
• Background in defence, robotics, modelling & simulation, scientific computing or other performance-critical environments (highly desirable)

This is an opportunity to build the backend behind some of the most advanced modelling & simulation capabilities being developed today. Your work will enable AI-generated software to be tested, validated and refined across thousands of simulated scenarios before deployment, directly influencing the reliability of autonomous systems operating in complex, mission-critical environments. If you're excited by distributed systems, high-performance computing and simulation at scale and want to work alongside some of the strongest engineers and researchers in AI, this is an exceptional opportunity.