AI Applications Technical Lead

An active TS//SCI clearance with polygraph is required for this role

Bitwise is a leading provider of mission-focused intelligence solutions that advance national security for the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. We're a small and growing company, so you can expect to hop in on the ground floor with us and be a consequential member of the team. You'll be more than a contract performer for us — you'll also be asked for ideas to improve our company and improve your career, and you'll contribute to our team culture.

We value growth and community above almost all else, so we gather regularly for game nights, happy hours, tech talks, and plenty more. We think you'll like it here!

Remember, Bitwise is not a cult.

Bitwise hires talented engineers who are driven by purpose and who value a culture of technical excellence, growth, and overall wellness. We deliver new and innovative intelligence solutions to our customers at the very forefront of our country's national security missions. And we do it every single day. Our work matters, and so will you.

We ask that every new hire be able to:

• Contribute meaningful thought leadership — if not right away, over time
• Interact with our customers and earn their confidence in your abilities
• Be detailed, even if that means taking a little more time to get it right
• Contribute their ideas and ideals to improve all aspects of our company
• Allow us to invest in their education so we both grow together

We're building the next generation of AI infrastructure, and we need a Senior Software Engineer to help lead that charge. You'll be at the heart of developing and maintaining high-quality AI tools and applications that empower our customer's workforce to use AI seamlessly and efficiently. This is a role where you'll wear multiple hats — architect, builder, leader, and innovator.

Your day-to-day will involve developing robust AI tools and applications, ensuring they maintain high availability, reliability, performance, and security. You'll engage directly with customers to understand their evolving needs, then translate those loosely-defined problems into elegant technical solutions. You'll modify and adapt open-source software to fit our customer's unique use cases, and you'll maintain the infrastructure and applications that keep everything running smoothly.

Beyond individual contribution, you'll serve as a technical lead for AI Tools and Applications initiatives, coordinating work across integrated teams. You'll mentor junior developers, conduct one-on-ones, provide coaching and feedback, and help them grow. You'll also serve as the team's point of contact for contract administration functions, navigate ambiguity in complex systems, establish technical policies and governance frameworks, and drive adoption of new technologies and practices across engineering teams.

You’ll implement and oversee monitoring, logging, and observability solutions for AI services, communicate effectively with stakeholders at multiple organizational levels, and own the reliability and security of our components. In short: you’ll be expected to grow, learn, and lead — and we’ll support you every step of the way.

• 12 years of experience in software engineering, OR a B.S. in a technical discipline plus 8 additional years of experience
• Mastery of Python
• Significant experience developing and maintaining production software
• Significant experience with Large Language Models (LLMs) as part of a code solution workflow
• Expertise in UI/UX principles
• Familiarity with AWS or other cloud service providers
• Experience with Kubernetes/Helm
• Familiarity with Argo CD and/or other CI/CD frameworks
• Experience supporting production…