Software Engineer, National Security Startups

About:

Zelcast is an AI-native talent firm working with dozens of ambitious, venture-backed, early-stage startups. Many of them are seed-stage teams building AI and data products for the U.S. government, including defense and intelligence agencies and other federal customers. Furthering American ambition is the reason we exist, and these teams do it as directly as anyone.

Making sure you fit the guidelines as an applicant for this role is essential, please read the below carefully.

This is a general profile for several software engineering roles across those companies. The exact product, technical stack, location, compensation, and clearance requirements vary by team. We'll only introduce you to opportunities that match what you're looking for.

The work:

The companies and products differ, but the engineering problems are similar. You would build AI systems that perform meaningful work for government customers, often using large amounts of messy, fragmented real-world data.

Most roles involve working directly with those customers to learn how the work is done today, identify what should change, and turn that understanding into reliable software people depend on.

What you'll do:

• Build agents and LLM-powered workflows that automate or accelerate work people currently perform manually
• Build the underlying data systems, from ingestion and processing through analysis
• Evaluate whether AI-generated outputs are accurate and determine when human review is necessary
• Take features from an initial prototype to a reliable production system
• Work directly with customers and support the software once they depend on it

What we're looking for:

• 3+ years of experience building and shipping production software
• Experience building with LLMs and using AI coding tools as part of your daily workflow
• Strong generalist engineering ability across full-stack, backend, systems, or data-intensive applications
• The ability to independently own technical problems from definition through deployment
• A genuine interest in national security and the government mission
• U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance

Nice to have

• An active or recent security clearance
• Military, intelligence, defense, or government experience
• Prior work as a forward-deployed engineer or in another customer-facing technical role
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or data platforms
• Experience at an early-stage startup

Is an early-stage startup right for you?

You'll likely be a good fit if:

• You have taken something from zero to production users
• You are comfortable owning several projects at once
• You want to work directly with the people using your software, including on-site when needed
• You would rather shape the technical foundation than inherit a mature system
• You have seen how a large company works and are choosing a startup on purpose
• You care about the national security mission and don't need to be sold on it

You may not be a fit if:

• You want a defined roadmap and a large team around you
• You are unable or unwilling to complete the security-clearance process
• You want a fully remote role with no customer travel
• You are primarily looking for the predictability or cash-heavy compensation of a larger company

How it works:

We start with a conversation about your work and what you want next. xhyhwjd We introduce you only to companies where there's a real case for why you belong there, and we stay with you through the introduction, the offer and the decision.