Lead Software Engineer, Web & Cloud Solutions

Who We Are  At Firestorm, we’re on a mission to revolutionize how defense solutions are designed and delivered. Our goal is to empower U.S. ally nations to effectively deter aggressors—regardless of their defense budget—through innovative, cost-efficient technologies. We call this vision “democratized deterrence.”  As a VC-backed company at the intersection of defense and Silicon Valley, we’re pioneering the development of mission-adaptable aerial vehicles that put power back into the hands of operators. By prioritizing operator effectiveness, we’re pioneering a new era of aerial vehicle design. We aim to upend the traditional defense procurement model by delivering world-class capabilities at a fraction of the usual cost.  Join us at Firestorm as we redefine defense procurement, making cutting-edge technology accessible to all at a fraction of the cost.  About the Role  We’re building the next generation of secure, cloud-native, operator-facing software—and we’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer, Web & Cloud Solutions to help architect and deliver it. This role will initially be an initial senior, individual-contributor role with a clear path to formal technical leadership as the product line and engineering team scale.  Success in this role means more than just technical execution. You take initiative to drive solutions end-to-end—even across organizational boundaries—and thrive in ambiguity, balancing short-term wins with long-term maintainability. You enjoy mentoring teammates, translating complexity into clarity, and staying hands-on as you lead by example. You value diverse perspectives, elevate team success above individual credit, and remain calm under pressure or tight deadlines. Above all, you’re curious and advocate for modern tools and best practices, creating structure in fast-moving environments and building systems—and teams—that last.  What You'll Do  

• Architect and implement a multi-tenant, mission-critical SaaS platform in Azure Commercial and Azure Government (IL4/IL5) environments. 
• Build full-stack features using TypeScript/React, Node.js or .NET 8, and modern 3D engines like Three.js, Babylon.js, or CesiumJS. 
• Design real-time data pipelines using Azure IoT Hub, Event Hubs, and Kafka/MQTT to process high-volume telemetry and manufacturing data. 
• Integrate enterprise systems (ERP, MES, PLM) using REST, GraphQL, OPC UA, gRPC, and schema contracts like Protobuf or Avro. 
• Deploy and manage infrastructure using Terraform, Bicep, or Pulumi for AKS, Azure Functions, Digital Twins, Postgres/TimescaleDB, Redis, and queue workers. 
• Champion DevSecOps best practices including GitOps workflows, container scanning, SBOM generation, automated compliance evidence, and OpenTelemetry-based observability. 
• Enforce zero-trust security using Entra ID, mTLS, Key Vault, role-based access controls, and FIPS-validated encryption protocols. 
• Model digital twins for assets and production systems to enable predictive maintenance, capacity planning, and what-if simulations. 
• Optimize performance and cost through autoscaling, CDN caching strategies, database partitioning, and chaos/fault-injection testing. 
• Author and maintain public APIs (REST, GraphQL, WebSockets) and SDKs with versioning, OpenAPI documentation, and reference clients. 
• Develop comprehensive test suites—including unit, integration, end-to-end, contract, and load tests—and own promotion gates for dev, staging, and production environments. 
• Mentor engineers, shape technical standards, and help build a high-performance engineering culture rooted in continuous learning and improvement. 

 Minimum Qualifications  

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field. 
• 8+ years designing, building, and operating large-scale cloud or SaaS platforms. 
• Proven success in a tech lead or engineering manager role, with a track record of mentoring engineers and contributing to team design, hiring, and performance management—ready to balance hands-on contributions with growing leadership responsibilities as we scale. 
• Expertise in a modern full-stack environment (e.g., TypeScript/React + Node.js, C#/.NET 6+, or Go). 
• Proven track record delivering secure, highly available services on Azure, including AKS and Azure networking. 
• Deep experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, Bicep, Pulumi) and GitOps deployments. 
• Proficient in DevSecOps tooling, CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and automated testing (Jest, xUnit, or similar). 
• Skilled in real-time and event-driven systems using Kafka, Event Hubs, MQTT, or similar. 
• Hands-on with 3D web technologies and spatial visualization (WebGL/WebGPU), including performance and shader optimization. 
• Strong foundation in secure identity and cryptography