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About This Role
Senior Software Engineer – AI Infrastructure
An active TS//SCI clearance with polygraph is required for this role
Hey!
Bitwise is a leading provider of mission-focused intelligence solutions that advance national security for the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. We're a small and growing company, so you can expect to hop in on the ground floor with us and be a consequential member of the team. You'll be more than a contract performer for us — you'll also be asked for ideas to improve our company and improve your career, and you'll contribute to our team culture. We value growth and community above almost all else, so we gather regularly for game nights, happy hours, tech talks, and plenty more. We think you'll like it here!
Remember, Bitwise is not a cult.
What We Look For
Bitwise hires talented engineers who are driven by purpose and who value a culture of technical excellence, growth, and overall wellness. We deliver new and innovative intelligence solutions to our customers at the very forefront of our country's national security missions. And we do it every single day. Our work matters, and so will you.
We ask that every new hire be able to:
- Contribute meaningful thought leadership — if not right away, over time
- Interact with our customers and earn their confidence in your abilities
- Be detailed, even if that means taking a little more time to get it right
- Contribute their ideas and ideals to improve all aspects of our company
- Allow us to invest in their education so we both grow together
- Know and live our core values every single day
About this Role
This is a senior-level full-stack engineering role at the heart of a growing AI platform organization — and it's not just a coding job. You'll be building and operating the infrastructure that powers next-generation AI capabilities for a mission-critical customer, while also stepping into a technical leadership position that shapes how the team works and grows.
You'll lead development of production AI services — think retrieval augmented generation (RAG), autonomous agents, and scalable model inference — while also owning the reliability, observability, and security posture of the platform. You'll set technical direction, define policies and governance frameworks where none yet exist, and drive adoption of new technologies across engineering teams. When things are ambiguous (and they will be), you'll be the one who brings clarity.
On top of the technical work, you'll serve as a people lead for a small, integrated team — running one-on-ones, providing coaching and feedback, and acting as the point of contact for contract administration functions. You're the kind of engineer who can context-switch between a Kubernetes cluster and a career conversation, and you do both well.
This role is based in Laurel, MD.
Requirements
- 12 years of experience in software engineering, or a B.S. in a technical discipline plus 8 years of experience
- Extensive experience designing, building, and operating large-scale production systems
- Deep expertise in systems integration across diverse technologies and platforms
- Hands-on experience with cloud engineering in AWS
- Advanced proficiency with Kubernetes administration and deployment patterns
- Strong Python programming skills
- Experience implementing and scaling observability solutions, including APM, OpenTelemetry, Grafana, and Prometheus
- Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence organizational change
- Experience developing technical policies and governance frameworks
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills
- Demonstrated ability to balance hands-on engineering with leadership and coordination responsibilities
- Active TS//SCI clearance with polygraph
Preferred Skills
- Experience with AI inference serving technologies such as vLLM or LiteLLM
- Previous experience with agentic frameworks such as LangChain
- Knowledge of vector databases and embedding systems
- Experience with high-performance computing or distributed systems
- A track record of successfully driving technical and cultural change across engineering organizations
️ 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 Applying
You'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.
ℹ️ Disclaimers
Bitwise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.
Compensation for this position, including all compensation options, will be determined on an individual basis following the interview process.
If you require accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please reach out to us.
Salary Context
This $282K-$332K range is above the 75th percentile for AI Software Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $193K across 172 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
AI Software Engineers build the applications and systems that AI models run inside. They own the API layers, data pipelines, frontend integrations, and infrastructure that turn a model into a product users interact with. Every AI company needs engineers who can build the software around the AI.
The challenge is building reliable systems around inherently unreliable components. Models are probabilistic. They'll give different answers to the same question. They hallucinate. They're slow. They're expensive. Your job is to build an application layer that handles all of this gracefully while delivering a product that users trust and enjoy.
Across the 9,653 AI roles we're tracking, AI Software Engineer positions make up 5% of the market. At Bitwise, LLC, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: building API endpoints that serve model inference with caching and fallback logic, designing the data pipeline that feeds context to a RAG system, implementing streaming responses in the frontend, debugging a race condition in the async inference pipeline, and optimizing database queries for the vector search layer. It's full-stack engineering with AI at the center.
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
Skills Required
Full-stack engineering skills with AI integration experience. Python and TypeScript are the most common requirements. You'll need to understand API design, database architecture, and how to build reliable systems around probabilistic outputs. Experience with streaming, async processing, and caching patterns is increasingly important as real-time AI applications proliferate.
Knowledge of vector databases, embedding APIs, and LLM integration patterns (function calling, structured outputs, retry logic) differentiates AI software engineers from general software engineers. Understanding cost optimization (caching strategies, model routing, batched inference) is valuable since inference costs can dominate application economics.
Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI Software Engineer roles pay a median of $220,000 based on 1,448 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $228,700. This role's midpoint ($307K) sits 40% above the category median. Disclosed range: $282K to $332K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($253,100) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $110,408; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $228,700; Director: $272,275; VP: $235,000.
Bitwise, LLC AI Hiring
Bitwise, LLC has 3 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI Software Engineer. Positions span Columbia, MD, US, Laurel, MD, US. Compensation range: $233K - $332K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 6% (568 positions) offer remote work, while 9,010 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (2,878 roles, $221,000 median); San Francisco (2,413 roles, $264,500 median); Los Angeles (1,340 roles, $210,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into AI Software Engineer roles include Software Engineer, Full-Stack Developer, Backend Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Staff Engineer, AI Architect, Engineering Manager.
If you're a software engineer, you're already 80% there. Learn the AI integration patterns: RAG, streaming inference, function calling, structured outputs. Build a project that demonstrates you can wrap an AI model in a production-quality application with proper error handling, caching, and user experience. That's the portfolio piece that gets you hired.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens look like standard software engineering interviews with an AI twist. Expect system design questions about building reliable applications around probabilistic models: handling streaming responses, implementing retry logic for API failures, and designing caching strategies for LLM outputs. Coding rounds test standard algorithms plus practical integration patterns like async processing and rate limiting.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings describe the product you'll be building, the AI integration patterns you'll work with, and the scale requirements. Look for companies that have existing AI features and need engineers to improve and expand them, not companies that are 'planning to add AI' someday.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,653 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 193 entry-level, 4,500 mid-level, 3,455 senior, and 1,505 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (568 positions). The remaining 9,010 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,400. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,230. The 90th percentile reaches $319,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($253,100 median, 57 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 419 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 51 roles).
AI Software Engineer roles are among the most numerous in the AI job market. Every company deploying AI needs software engineers who understand AI integration patterns. The demand is broad, spanning startups to enterprises, across every industry adopting AI capabilities.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,653 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (7,301), Data Scientist (441), AI Software Engineer (438). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (193) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,500) and senior (3,455) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,505 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (568 positions), with 9,010 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,400. Top-quartile roles start at $264,230, and the 90th percentile reaches $319,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $253,100 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,605 postings), Aws (916 postings), Azure (724 postings), Rag (634 postings), Gcp (522 postings), Pytorch (495 postings), Kubernetes (384 postings), Claude (383 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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