What are the responsibilities and job description for the Backend Software Engineer position at The Arena?
Backend Software Engineer - Simulations
Location: Onsite | Rosslyn, VA; New York City; Seattle, WA
Clearance: Eligible to Obtain (Secret preferred)
Employment Type: Full-time, salaried, with full benefits
The Company & Mission:
Our client is revolutionizing military logistics and sustainment through the deployment of AI-enabled solutions. Combining elite Silicon Valley software expertise with deep operational experience working in and with the Department of Defense, our client builds cutting-edge software to solve the most critical logistics challenges faced by the U.S. military and its allies.
Their flagship product is an advanced software platform that enhances logistics at tactical and operational echelons, providing unified, comprehensive management of inventory, personnel, equipment, and distribution. The platform integrates critical information for holistic, data-driven logistics decisions, leveraging AI for decision support, predictive analytics, and optimization at machine speed. Their mission is to support and enable the military logistics and sustainment communities with software to meet the needs of the next fight.
What This Role is All About:
Our client is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to own the simulations workstream within their logistics platform, with a primary focus on the forecasting system that models, predicts, and reasons about logistics outcomes in complex operational environments.
This is not a research or analysis role. They need a strong software engineer who is also mathematically and scientifically fluent — someone who can work in formulas, reason about physical systems, and build production-quality software around that reasoning. If you've spent your career at the intersection of rigorous math and real-world engineering, this is built for you.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Build and own production-grade simulation and forecasting software, with a primary focus on our Client’s logistics forecaster
- Work with mathematical models, numerical methods, and scientific formulas to implement software where correctness is defined by the underlying physics or math, not just user acceptance
- Collaborate closely with the forecaster lead and platform team to integrate simulation capabilities into core product workflows
- Participate in technical design discussions and code reviews, contributing to a culture of engineering rigor and mission focus
- Triage and debug issues in production, ensuring reliability and rapid iteration in support of operational needs
- Work closely with engineers, product managers, and military stakeholders to ensure simulation and forecasting systems meet real-world sustainment requirements at the tactical edge
What You Bring:
- 4 years of experience in software engineering with demonstrated experience building software in a scientific or mathematically complex domain: sensor algorithms, motion planning, simulation, forecasting, or similar
- Ability to work with mathematical models and numerical methods in code; comfort reasoning about correctness in terms of physics or math, not just software behavior
- Proficiency in Python, C , or Go
- Strong software engineering foundation — this role requires production-quality engineering, not analysis or research
- Math or science background through degree, graduate work, or professional domain experience
- Strong sense of ownership and a bias for action
Bonus Points:
- Experience at a defense-adjacent autonomous systems company in a hands-on engineering capacity
- Degree or graduate degree in a scientific field such as physics, applied mathematics, aerospace, or mechanical engineering
- Familiarity with numerical simulation frameworks or scientific computing libraries
- Experience deploying software to production environments, including cloud (AWS, Kubernetes) and edge infrastructure
Benefits:
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans; premiums 100% covered for all employees; exceptionally low premiums for spouses and dependents
- Basic life insurance and disability 100% covered for all employees; option to purchase additional life insurance
- "Take the time off that you need, when you need it" paid time off policy — not accrual based
- Generous company holiday calendar including a December shutdown
- Supportive leave of absence program including military service, medical events, and parental leave
- Full 401(k) retirement plan for all full-time eligible employees
- Company-funded commuter benefits
- Highly competitive equity grants included in the majority of full-time offers as part of total compensation