Software Engineer (SWE), Level 3An active TS//SCI clearance with polygraph is required for this role About this RoleWe're looking for an experienced Software Engineer to lead forward-deployed work with our mission customers, taking AI from concept through production. You'll work directly with operators and analysts to understand their workflows, identify where AI can save them time, and build agentic systems that deliver real operational value.
As a senior engineer on our team, you'll architect and build sophisticated AI agents in Python that connect large language models, data sources, and operational tools. You'll design the guardrails that let autonomous agents act safely within operational systems-scoped permissions, human approval gates, audit logging-so we can put powerful AI to work without sacrificing control or accountability. You'll partner with mission users to build evaluation suites that measure accuracy, reliability, and failure modes, and you'll use those results to decide when a capability is ready to field.
You'll also shape how our team develops with AI. You'll use AI coding agents in your daily work, help define team standards for reviewing and validating AI-generated code, and mentor engineers through design reviews, code reviews, and pairing. You'll evaluate new models and frameworks-both frontier and open-weight-against mission problems, and brief findings and tradeoffs to technical and government leadership. This role suits an experienced engineer who wants to influence how AI is fielded across operations and grow into project leadership.
Requirements- 12+ years of relevant experience with a B.S. in a technical discipline, or 16+ years of relevant experience without a degree
- Extensive professional software engineering experience with advanced Python proficiency, including production services, APIs, and data pipelines that users depend on
- Experience building LLM applications or agentic systems that use tool/function calling, structured outputs, context management, and multi-step workflows
- Experience working directly with end users or mission customers to turn ambiguous operational problems into delivered software
- Experience designing tests, evaluations, or validation layers for AI or other non-deterministic systems
- Experience using AI coding assistants or agents (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, Copilot) for code generation, refactoring, and debugging, with the review discipline to own and explain everything they produce
- Technical leadership experience, such as serving as tech lead, leading design decisions, or mentoring engineers
- Experience with Git, CI/CD pipelines (GitLab preferred), Docker/Kubernetes, and Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence)
- Strong written and verbal communication with technical and non-technical audiences
Preferred Skills- Experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP), Skills, subagents, or multi-agent orchestration frameworks such as PydanticAI or LangGraph
- Experience securing LLM applications against prompt injection, data leakage, and over-permissioned tool access
- Experience with retrieval systems (RAG, vector databases, Elasticsearch)
- Experience building spec-driven or autonomous development pipelines with AI coding agents
- Prior forward-deployed or embedded customer-facing engineering experience
- Experience with production CNO capabilities and operations, or knowledge of end-to-end SIGINT collection and analysis systems
Benefits at Bitwise- Top salaries because we're top performers
- Pick your PTO - Everyone values time and money differently, so we give you the flexibility to choose between 3 and 5 weeks of PTO with a corresponding adjustment to your pay. Your choice, your balance.
- All 11 federal holidays, paid!
- Up to 2 snow days, paid!
- We'll quadruple (4x!) the first 6% you contribute to your 401(k), giving you up to a 24% company match. Contributing less than 6%? Unclaimed matches come right back to you as extra income, giving you a guaranteed 24% that goes to your retirement, to your paycheck, or both. C'mon now!
- 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurances. That's a lot. Already covered on health insurance? No problem - we'll trade you this benefit for a boost to your salary instead.
- $5,250 annual education assistance for training, certifications, tuition, and even student loan repayments.
- Spot bonuses for obtained certifications, customer recognition, and just about anything else that makes us go "Hot damn!". We hope to say that many times about you.
Salary Range$282,000 - $332,000
This range includes our flex income and depends upon your annual work hours.
Salary is determined on an individual basis following the interview process and considering various factors such as years of experience, skills, education, and certifications.
What to Expect After ApplyingYou'll get an email from us right away to acknowledge your application. After that, we'll:
- Send over additional company materials for you to review
- Schedule a video call to talk about you, our company, and your place in it
- Craft a delightful offer package for you and record a video walkthrough
- Work closely with you through onboarding. We'll keep it joyful and easy.
