Founding Backend Engineer

Due to the nature of the work, this role does require you to be a US Citizen performing the work on US soil.

Founding Backend Engineer – startup is in stealth, backed by a16z – is building the AI operating system for radio frequency spectrum — the trillion-dollar invisible infrastructure that powers 5G, autonomous vehicles, and satellites.

We’re building a software platform to modernize how RF spectrum is accessed, managed, and shared. Our platform will shorten licensing timelines, enable dynamic spectrum sharing, and strengthen communications resilience across government and commercial networks.

Our founders are Millen (a16z engineering fellow, built 150+ satellites at Planet) and Ari (employee #2 at True Anomaly and Chief Engineer of a multi-mission program). This startup grew out of years of frustration working in satellite communications and spectrum management: spectrum licenses that take 24 months and cost hundreds of thousands, bandwidth congestion from mega constellations, and comms systems that are increasingly vulnerable to interference and jamming.

We’re looking for a founding backend engineer to help shape the foundation of this platform — designing data systems that can handle fragmented, high-stakes datasets and helping us build the core of modern spectrum infrastructure. The problems are hard, the mission is critical, and the impact is global.

What you’ll do:

● Architect core application logic and APIs - Design clean, extensible interfaces that encapsulate complex business logic and maintain high-throughput performance.

● Build robust authentication and service orchestration - Implement secure identity management and ensure resilient communication across distributed services to maintain system integrity under heavy load.

● Optimize for performance and system health - Leverage a deep understanding of latency, throughput, and resource utilization to build highly responsive applications for high-stakes environments.

● Integrate and modernize disparate systems - Reconcile fragmented schemas and normalize inconsistent data formats from legacy sources into a coherent, high-performance application layer.

You should have:

● Strong Python Experience – Deep proficiency in Python for backend development, including experience with asynchronous programming and understanding of web framework internals.

● Expertise in Event-Driven Architectures (EDA) - Experience building scalable, decoupled systems using Kafka or similar message brokers.

● Cloud Infrastructure - Familiarity with container orchestration (Kubernetes) and cloud-native design patterns.

Nice to Haves:

● Experience with Rust - Practical knowledge of building memory-safe, high-performance services, with an emphasis on safe concurrency and low-latency execution.

You thrive on:

● Taking ownership and navigating shifting priorities in a fast-moving, high-impact environment.

● Moving seamlessly between high-level architecture and hands-on implementation.

● Solving the hard problems of modernizing legacy government systems and enabling secure, mission-critical communication.

Working Model: Onsite in NYC, 5 days a week.

Compensation:

Company offers flexible structures depending on whether someone prioritizes cash, equity or a balanced mix.

Here’s the current range (and other perks) for the role:

• Base salary: starting near/around $200K with flexibility based on experience and whether you prefer a higher-cash or higher-equity package
• Equity: approximately 1% with room to adjust based on what the final offer mix looks like
• Benefits: 95% employer-covered health insurance, unlimited PTO, and a 401k launching January 1st
• Additional perks: meals covered when you’re working and relocation assistance, up to $15K (if applicable)