OVERVIEW

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer with a passion for AI to join us in our mission of bringing the ION Factory OS to next-generation hardware builders around the globe. This role is based in Los Angeles, CA (HQ in El Segundo).
Are you excited by the opportunity to build AI-powered software that accelerates the development of eVTOLs, rockets, robots, and autonomous vehicles? While this role emphasizes AI innovation, we’re seeking a senior engineer who can deliver end-to-end product functionality—AI-driven or otherwise. The ideal candidate is just as comfortable shipping core product features as they are designing intelligent AI systems.
As a senior engineer, you’ll collaborate with AI/ML specialists, product managers, and customers to bring cutting-edge research into real-world applications while ensuring that our broader platform continues to scale. If you want to play a key role in shaping the future of hardware and Industry 4.0 through both AI innovation and strong software engineering, we’d love to meet you.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including experience shipping AI/ML-powered products into production.
• Proven track record of building and shipping customer-facing applications (AI and non-AI) that deliver measurable business value.
• Strong proficiency in Python and AI/ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, or equivalent).
• Experience architecting scalable systems on cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Hands-on experience with MLOps practices and tools (MLflow, Kubeflow, SageMaker, etc.).
• Expertise in data modeling, preprocessing, and model evaluation at scale.
• Familiarity with generative AI models (LLMs, diffusion models, GANs) and their real-world applications.
• Strong knowledge of APIs and modern software design patterns for integrating AI into SaaS products.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Passion for AI innovation paired with the ability to deliver non-AI product functionality when needed.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Expertise in natural language processing (NLP) or computer vision and deploying such models into production.=
• Experience building AI systems for real-time, low-latency, or edge deployments.
• Familiarity with modern data governance, privacy, and compliance standards (SOC2, GDPR, ITAR).
  Hands-on experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for building AI systems that combine large language models with external knowledge sources.

Understanding of and/or experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar emerging standards for connecting AI systems with data and tools.

• Customer-facing experience gathering requirements, presenting solutions, and demonstrating value.
• Contributions to open-source projects or published research in applied AI/ML.
• Experience mentoring engineers and contributing to engineering best practices.

• Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of production-ready AI systems within the ION Factory OS.
• Ship customer-facing features that directly impact manufacturing workflows, including AI-driven functionality (e.g., generative procedure creation, anomaly detection, recommendations) and core product features not reliant on AI.
• Architect and maintain scalable software systems, including AI/ML pipelines and broader product infrastructure.
• Design and implement AI features using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines to deliver context-aware insights and recommendations.
• Leverage Model Context Protocol (MCP) and similar frameworks to connect AI models seamlessly with structured/unstructured data sources and external tools.
• Collaborate with product managers and customers to translate real-world challenges into robust software solutions.
• Partner with data engineering to process and transform structured and unstructured manufacturing data into usable formats.
• Ensure reliability, scalability, and maintainability of all systems in production, leveraging CI/CD and cloud-native workflows.
• Stay ahead of advancements in software engineering and AI, bringing the best practices into shipped product features.
• Mentor junior engineers and help raise the technical bar across the team.