Lead Full Stack Engineer- Foundry​/Maven Smart System

Lead Full Stack Engineer

The Department of War is fielding AI-enabled decision support at a speed the defense industry has never seen — and Maven Smart System is at the center of it. Sherpa 6 builds mission-critical software that puts operational data in the hands of the people who need it, from the Pentagon to the tactical edge. Our systems already run on 100,000+ fielded endpoints across the Joint Force.

We're hiring a Lead Full Stack Engineer to own a greenfield application that works alongside the Maven Smart System ecosystem — built for senior DoW leaders who use it to make real decisions. You'll work directly with the mission owner at the Pentagon, lead a small product squad, and shape the architecture from the first commit. No legacy codebase. No layers of program bureaucracy between you and the user.

Your users are in the building, and you'll see your work in their hands within weeks, not years.

Your Foundry experience is the job, not a bonus. The application lives on Maven Smart System, so the ontology, Workshop, Functions, and OSDK skills you've built — at Palantir, a delivery partner, or a government program — are exactly what this role runs on every day. That expertise is rare, and here it's the centerpiece.

Responsibilities:

• Tech lead for a product squad—own technical direction, estimation, sprint planning, and on-time feature delivery.
• Implement scalable, secure, and observable system architectures (APIs, services, data models, caching, integrations).
• Build high-quality front-end experiences in React, and robust back-end services in Node.js/Type Script, backed by PostgreSQL.
• Model schemas, write optimized SQL, tune queries, and manage migrations, all with an eye toward data integrity and growth.
• Code and test software based upon software specifications and designs.
• Analyze and study complex system requirements.
• Design software tools and subsystems to support software reuse and domain software development.
• Use sound software engineering principles to ensure that developed code is modifiable, efficient, reliable, understandable, and fault tolerant.
• Provide software process management and control throughout the coding portion of the software development process.

Requirements:

• Prior hands-on Palantir Foundry development experience — this is a critical qualification. You've built applications, data pipelines, or ontology-backed workflows in Foundry:
  Ontology design (object types, links, actions), Workshop and/or Slate applications, Foundry Functions (Type Script), and ideally the Ontology SDK (OSDK) for custom React apps.
• 6–10+ years of professional software engineering; 2+ years as a team lead or project tech lead.
• BS degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
• Demonstrated experience with asynchronous programming, observables, and data structuring.
• Node.js/Type Script building REST APIs and solid understanding of concurrency, async patterns, and API design.
• Demonstrated experience with application state management strategies.
• Solid understanding of HTML and CSS, including responsive design principles, CSS preprocessors, and knowledge of UI frameworks.
• Developing full stack web applications following design team specifications.
• Familiarity with front and backend build tools and package managers.
• Strong team player who thrives in a highly collaborative and cross-function environment, with a growth mindset.
• Development processes: source control, defect tracking, and collaborative tools; code review a plus.
• Conducting peer reviews.
• Decomposing software requirements into actionable development capabilities.
• Excellent communicator, both written and verbal.
• Active Secret Clearance.

Qualities of Exceptional Candidates:

• Experience with Maven Smart System, AIP, or Gotham in a defense or intelligence context strongly preferred.
• Proven capacity to design scalable and maintainable solutions and patterns.
• Experience analyzing and employing strategies that optimize user experience, data retrieval and storage, and performance.
• Experience scripting in Linux and Windows environments.
• Experience with encryption and cryptography algorithms.
• Experience with Scrum or other agile methodologies.

About Sherpa 6:

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