Senior Software Engineer, Elixir

Senior Software Engineer, ElixirDenver, CO or Long Beach, CASpace is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it.Our MissionTrue Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors — enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.Our ValuesBe the Offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.What Would It Take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.It's the People. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.Your MissionSoftware is the central nervous system for True Anomaly's engineering and product thesis. Software bridges the gap between military objectives, theoretical astrodynamics and the human and autonomous control of spacecraft and ground systems in time and space. True Anomaly is seeking a dedicated Senior Elixir Software Engineer to drive the development and evolution of our distributed spacecraft ground control system.This is a high-autonomy, high-accountability role. You'll own entire service domains from conception to production, drive architectural decisions that affect the distributed systems powering our ground control infrastructure, and set the standard for code quality that junior and mid-level engineers will follow. You won't wait to be assigned work; you'll identify what needs to be done, propose solutions, and drive them to completion. When you see reliability issues, you'll diagnose root causes, scope the fix, and champion the work to address them. When patterns aren't serving us, you'll propose better ones and lead their adoption.You do not need to have experience building space ground systems or experience in aerospace. You'll have ownership of challenging, greenfield problems and a chance to fundamentally impact the outcome of future conflict (and the future of the company), all while enjoying world-class benefits including platinum healthcare, flexible work hours/location, highly competitive compensation and a generous stock options package.ResponsibilitiesOwn and deliver complex distributed system features end-to-end, from technical design through production deployment and iteration across satellite command and control, mission planning, mission data processing, and data analysis systemsDrive architectural direction for Elixir/OTP systems, establishing patterns and conventions for fault tolerance, concurrency, and scalability that scale across the team and codebaseProactively identify and address technical debt, reliability risks, and performance bottlenecks in distributed systemsSet the quality bar through rigorous code review, championing testing practices, and writing code that serves as a reference implementation for the teamMentor and elevate junior and mid-level engineers through pairing, design discussions, and constructive code review that teaches, not just approvesCollaborate as a technical partner with product, frontend engineers, backend engineers, space operators, and astrodynamics algorithm engineers, contributing to system-wide architectural decisionsShip efficiently and iteratively, breaking complex distributed systems work into well-scoped increments while maintaining a bias toward completion over perfectionDocument decisions and patterns, ensuring the team's collective knowledge grows and onboarding becomes easier over timeWhat Success Looks Like In This RoleYou see a PR from a junior engineer that works but misuses OTP patterns; you don't just approve it; you take the time to explain the supervision tree design and why it matters for fault toleranceYou notice a GenServer is becoming a bottleneck under load; you propose and implement a redesign using dynamic supervisors or process pooling, then document the pattern for the teamYou're assigned a feature and the requirements are ambiguous; you proactively clarify with product and operations, propose a technical approach, and share it with the team before diving into implementationYou see downtime as an opportunity, not a break; you're the kind of engineer who notices the intermittent cluster synchronization issue everyone's been working around and decides to finally fix itYou disagree with an architectural decision; you articulate your concerns constructively, propose alternatives with tradeoffs, and commit fully once a decision is madeYou're thinking beyond your current ticket; you're aware of how your work fits into the broader ground system architecture and operational mission, and you surface risks or opportunities earlyQualifications7+ years of software development experienceExpert-level command of Elixir and OTP, including deep understanding of BEAM internals, scheduling, process architecture, supervision strategies, and runtime characteristicsDeep expertise in designing and building resilient, fault-tolerant distributed systems, including advanced patterns for process supervision, clustering, and state managementStrong testing philosophy and hands-on experience with ExUnit, property-based testing, and integration testing strategies for distributed systems; you understand what to test, not just howProven experience designing and evolving service architectures, API boundaries, and inter-service communication patterns at scaleFluency with gRPC, RESTful, and WebSocket-based services, including debugging integration issues and contributing to API design discussionsComfort operating across the stack when needed; you can read frontend code, understand infrastructure constraints, and collaborate effectively with engineers across disciplinesTrack record of working in Git-based workflows with high standards for commit hygiene, PR quality, and collaborative review processesU.S. Citizen and eligible for DoD Secret or TS/SCI clearancePreferred Skills And ExperienceBachelor's degree in computer science or similar disciplineExperience as a technical lead or primary backend on a product with real users and production constraintsDeep understanding of OTP including BEAM scheduling, GenServers, run queues, pg, the Actor model, and advanced patterns like dynamic supervisors, registries, and distributed process groupsExperience building and shipping complex, real-time systems with demanding reliability and performance requirements (real-time telemetry, large-scale data processing, mission-critical operations)Experience with OAuth2, role-based access controls, and security patterns for sensitive systemsDeep database experience with PostgreSQL, including schema design, query optimization, and operational concerns at scaleExperience with monitoring, observability, and distributed tracing in production systems (e.g., OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana)Strong collaboration and communication skills that let you thrive in a culture that values respectful, professional, and constructive conflictCompensationBase Salary: $180,000 - $265,000Equity + Benefits: including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental LeaveYour actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.Additional RequirementsWork Location: This is an onsite role, we are seeking candidates based near Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA.Work Environment: The work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.Physical Demands: The physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.