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.

The ideal candidate has experience:

• Dealing with messy, fragmented datasets - for example, integrating legacy government systems, reconciling conflicting schemas, and normalizing inconsistent formats across agencies and classification levels.
• Experience designing and implementing data pipelines and infrastructure, including building scalable ETL/ELT workflows, designing data models for operational and analytical use cases, and establishing security and reliability guardrails.
• Experience with government-accredited cloud data warehouses (and especially AWS or Azure GovCloud) is a strong plus, since our stack leverages them to achieve secure accreditation in regulated environments.

Beyond technical skill, we’re looking for someone who wants to take on a ton of responsibility, is comfortable with shifting priorities, and moving fluidly between high-level architecture and hands-on implementation. Equally important, they should be energized by tackling the hard problems of modernizing legacy government systems, helping space communicate with Earth, and building mission-critical infrastructure that endures.

Working model is in-person 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 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)