
Senior Full-Stack Engineer - Product (TS/SCI Required) at Vannevar (New York, NY)
Vannevar· New York, NY·
Role details
Job description
Vannevar builds AI systems for the Department of War's most consequential missions. We have 125 deployments across every branch and combatant command spanning our core platform and five distinct products. An an example of how we work, when major combat operations started with Iran, we fielded a new product supporting 24/7 operations and 9,000+ users in three months.
How we build is our advantage: we deploy forward with the people who own the mission. Our engineers, product team, and CTO deploy forward to the point of friction, including visiting units in Ukraine. We focus on embedding directly with operational units supporting great power competition with China, combat operations with Iran, and counter-narcotics missions.
About the role
Vannevar builds an agentic system that helps operators make sense of high-volume mission data and act with greater speed and confidence in sensitive government environments. The system analyzes millions of mission-relevant records to surface high-fidelity recommendations, near-real-time analysis, and decision-ready outputs while integrating into the systems and workflows customers already use.
Our software is designed to augment, not replace, human judgment. Operators remain in control of consequential decisions, with the system helping them understand evidence, investigate recommendations, and move faster with better information.
In this role, you will help expand the product to new missions, datasets, and operating environments. You will work directly with users and technical stakeholders to understand the mission, decide what should be built, and then build and deploy it. The team moves quickly — the first version of this system was deployed to in nine days — while holding a high bar for reliability, security, and usefulness to the people doing the mission.
This is a senior individual contributor role with broad ownership. You will write code, make architectural and product decisions, navigate complex government technical environments, and own outcomes from an initial mission need through production deployment and continued use.
What you’ll do
- Own mission problems end-to-end: understand the user and workflow, determine what good looks like, design the technical approach, build it, deploy it, and own the outcome
- Architect, build, and own the direction for a product deployed directly to customer environments in support of mission-critical use cases
- Work directly with users and senior technical stakeholders to understand mission needs, constraints, existing systems, and where software can have the greatest impact
- Own end-to-end technical delivery for new mission workstreams, from requirements gathering and system design through implementation, deployment, and sustainment
- Write substantial production code across the stack and improve the product's capabilities, performance, and scalability
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners — including engineers, product designers, and mission domain experts — to plan and deliver complex software features
- Support government-facing technical artifacts as needed, including input to RFIs, RFPs, Statements of Work, and white papers
- Navigate and integrate with government IT ecosystems, ensuring solutions meet security, compliance, and operational constraints
- This role is based in NYC, but traveling is required - travel up to 50% to engage directly with mission owners and deliver capabilities in the field
What you should have
- 5+ years as a Full Stack Developer including familiarity with relational databases (like Postgres), caching technologies (like Redis), object storage systems (like S3), and modern front-end frameworks (like React)
- Strong technical judgment and the ability to own ambiguous problems without waiting for a fully specified set of requirements
- Experience developing and deploying software compliant with DoD Risk Management Framework (RMF)
- Experience interfacing with government owned IT systems (for example, data platforms, IdAM providers, SIEM, CDSs, etc)
- Experience working with government IT and program offices to scope technical requirements, architecture, and integrations
- Experience working with end users to scope mission requirements, conduct user testing, and gain product feedback
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills
- Must hold an active U.S. TS Security clearance with SCI Eligibility
What we offer
We’re proud to offer competitive benefits that support our employees. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Remote friendly with WeWork access
- Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
- 401(k) match
- Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
- Salary top-up during military reserve duty
- Fully paid parental leave
- Child and pet care reimbursement during travel
Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you!
IMPORTANT NOTICE
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.
Why work at Vannevar
- Mission‑Driven Culture – Described as “a workplace like no other” where ex‑Googlers work alongside ex‑SEALs to build AI that protects American lives. Employees focus on “real‑world difference” rather than incremental consumer apps.
- Work Environment – Hybrid / remote‑friendly, though many roles require on‑site presence in D.C., Honolulu, or other cleared facilities. Remote positions exist for those with existing clearances.
- Engineering Philosophy – Emphasis on building agent‑based systems, working with rare datasets, and pushing AI to the tactical edge. Employees cite high compensation but note work‑life balance challenges (rating 2.7/5 on Glassdoor).
- Career Growth – Rapidly growing organization with direct exposure to defense decision‑makers, opportunities to lead mission‑critical deployments, and a strong alumni network feeding into top defense tech (Palantir, Anduril, Scale AI).
- Security Clearance Required – Most engineering and mission roles require (or sponsor) U.S. government security clearances (TS/SCI). This is a strong signal of deep‑end work.