Software Engineer - Defense Practice

Navi AI is hiring a Software Engineer for its Defense Practice to own Navi’s military product end to end, from ingest and analysis to operator-facing interfaces. This role is based onsite in San Francisco, with work centered around Edwards and other installations, where you will integrate with flight operators and translate sortie realities into production software.

Responsibilities

• Own Navi’s military product end to end, including ingest, analysis, and the interfaces relied on by squadron commanders, instructor pilots, and test pilots
• Build integrations to move flight data from military aircraft into Navi, covering telemetry, cockpit audio, avionics formats, and other formats provided by the airframe
• Convert sortie data into debrief intelligence that meets military debrief standards, including maneuver analysis, grade sheets, and trend detection across a training pipeline
• Work on-site at Edwards and at other installations, embedding with operators and translating what they need into what you ship
• Operate effectively within defense deployment constraints, including restricted networks, accreditation, and data handling requirements
• Make architecture decisions that allow the military product and the commercial product to share a common foundation without compromising either
• Act as a technical voice for Navy AI in conversations with Air Force stakeholders, bringing technical credibility and then executing on implementation

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience building and operating complex systems in production
• Proven ability to own projects end to end, including scoping, design, implementation, launch, and iteration, with minimal direction
• Deep expertise in at least one core area such as backend systems, data engineering, distributed infrastructure, or full-stack, with practical fluency across others
• Comfort working with non-technical users and translating operator needs into engineering decisions
• Ability to stay effective when there is no clear manual or single owner and when requirements change after the first flight
• Willingness to travel to military installations regularly and spend meaningful time on the ground with users
• U.S. citizen status and eligibility to obtain a U.S. security clearance

Benefits

• Early-stage equity with real ownership in a category-defining company
• Flight training, with support to earn your pilot’s license and build domain expertise
• Access no engineer gets, including flight lines, test squadrons, and the operators using what you built
• A role designed to grow into technical leadership for Navi’s defense business as the organization expands

Nice to Have

• Experience as a former fighter pilot who became a software engineer
• Prior service as a military pilot in any airframe, or experience as a WSO, NFO, or instructor pilot
• Experience at a test wing, weapons school, or formal training unit
• Familiarity with avionics data formats, flight test instrumentation, or aircraft data buses
• Experience building software inside DoD environments, including accreditation, ATOs, and classified networks
• Active or prior security clearance
• Early-stage or founding engineering experience

How We Work

• Find a way: ideas can come from anywhere regardless of title, and progress is made by shipping and iterating
• Creativity over control: first principles drive decisions, with preference for solutions that are useful now
• Update fast: form hypotheses, discard them when data contradicts assumptions, and move without ego
• Intensity with focus: the mission drives effort, and clarity helps maintain sustainable pace