---
title: 'Staff Software Engineer at First Resonance'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-software-engineer-first-resonance-los-angeles-mq4h9vndpscg'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-04'
---

# Staff Software Engineer at First Resonance

- **Company:** First Resonance
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/first-resonance/f116c1b3-d74e-4f6f-b96d-50b1734f70c8

## Job description

## OVERVIEW

First Resonance builds the ION Factory OS — the operating system powering next-generation manufacturing for companies building rockets, satellites, eVTOLs, clean energy systems, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. We’ve invested heavily in forward-deployed engineers at the customer edge. Now we’re strengthening the hub.

We’re hiring a Staff Software Engineer who is an exceptional backend engineer equally comfortable writing production-grade application code and architecting the AWS cloud infrastructure it runs on. This is a role for a systems thinker who wants to split their time between scaling our backend codebase and optimizing our cloud footprint. If you love building elegant APIs and configuring the Kubernetes clusters or terraforming the AWS environments that support them, you’ll thrive here.

## WHAT YOU’LL DO

- Write and Architect Backend Code: Build, scale, and maintain high-performance backend services and APIs that power the ION Factory OS.
- Bridge Code and Infrastructure: Own the relationship between our application layer and our AWS infrastructure. You’ll ensure our cloud architecture perfectly supports our software delivery.
- Own Architecture at Scale: Evaluate and evolve our backend and cloud architecture to support massive growth in customers, data volume, and product surface area.
- Drive Reliability and Uptime: Establish and improve reliability practices (SLOs/SLIs, incident response, postmortems, capacity planning) at both the application and infrastructure levels.
- Performance Leadership: Identify systemic bottlenecks; lead optimization initiatives across application code, databases, caching, async processing, and AWS services.
- Build Leverage for the Team: Create scalable primitives (libraries, patterns, CI/CD tooling, paved roads) that enable product teams to ship code faster with less risk.
- Mentor and Set the Technical Bar: Coach engineers on backend best practices, operational maturity, and cloud architecture; lead by example through hands-on delivery.

## WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (FIRST 90 DAYS)

- Ship high-quality backend code to production while gaining a deep understanding of our current AWS infrastructure.
- Produce a clear, prioritized backend and infrastructure assessment: current-state risks, near-term hardening plan, and a 6–12 month scaling roadmap.
- Lead at least one high-impact initiative that materially improves application uptime, database performance, or developer velocity.

## MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

- 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven track record of shipping production-grade backend code and owning infrastructure.
- Strong hands-on coding skills in modern backend languages (e.g., Python, Go, Node.js). Note: This is a coding-heavy role, not a pure DevOps or configuration position.
- Deep AWS Expertise: Demonstrated experience building, deploying, and managing complex systems on AWS (EC2, EKS/ECS, RDS, VPCs, IAM, etc.) using Infrastructure as Code (e.g., Terraform).
- Systems Thinking: Deep understanding of distributed systems, relational databases, caching, message queues, and API design.
- Leadership: Track record of leading large technical initiatives across teams or across a complex codebase.

## PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Prior experience as a Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead, or senior platform engineer in a high-scale environment.
- Depth in one or more of: SRE/reliability engineering, database scalability, multi-tenant architectures, or zero-downtime data migrations.
- Experience building internal platforms and developer tooling that abstract infrastructure complexities away from product engineers.
- Experience in or affinity for manufacturing, industrial software, or hard-tech customer environments.

## BENEFITS & PERKS

- Health Insurance; medical, vision, dental, & life insurance.
- Paid Parental Leave.
- Employee Stock Option Plan.
- Team outings, group lunches, open office, happy hours.
- Paid holidays, sick days.
- Flexible Friday and PTO.
- 401K.

First Resonance is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce.

First Resonance participates in E-Verify. As part of our onboarding process, a new hire's Form I-9 information will be shared with the federal government to confirm they are authorized to work in the U.S.

Pay is based on factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience and skillset, and location.

First Resonance accelerates the speed and reliability of hardware development for companies manufacturing the next generation of hardware products. This includes space exploration, electric airplanes, autonomous vehicles, nuclear reactors, robotics, and more. We are a group of software, hardware, and manufacturing engineers that are bringing the best of modern UX and data science to an industry that has been overly rigid in its innovation. We are removing the barriers preventing radical advancement by providing tools to manufacturing engineers and operators to move information more freely, collaborate with their teams more easily, and use the power of data to predict problems and provide insights that result in better hardware quality and delivery.

## About First Resonance

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: First Resonance develops the ION Factory Operating System (a modern Manufacturing Execution System) to help complex hardware and advanced manufacturing companies move from prototype to production with speed, traceability, and compliance.
- **Entity Type**: Private (funding stage not publicly disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Karan Talati (CEO) — the company was founded by former engineers from SpaceX and NASA-related companies who needed a better platform for rapid engineering and manufacturing iteration.

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Advanced Manufacturing Software, Industrial IoT, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Aerospace & Defense, Medical Devices, Climate Tech
- Target customers: B2B, Enterprise — hard-tech manufacturers including spacecraft builders, nuclear innovators, robotics leaders, and other quality-critical discrete manufacturers
- Mission or purpose statement: "Enable the next generation of hardware companies to bring their inventions to market sooner, many of which have the potential to fix some of the massive challenges that threaten our existence."

## Products & Services
- **[ION Factory OS]**: The core platform — a modern MES (Manufacturing Execution System) that provides digital work instructions, production planning, and as-built BOMs (a digital replica of every product). It is highly configurable, has an open API, and deploys quickly without costly implementations. It is AI-powered and ensures compliance and traceability.
- **[ION Analytics]**: A module delivering end-to-end visibility across the factory and supply chain, root cause analysis for slow output and quality issues, and true cost tracking per assembly (labor, components, sub-assemblies).
- **[ION AutoPlan]**: A forecasting and planning module that uses real-time inventory and capacity data to calculate accurate start dates and set reliable delivery expectations.
- **[ION Enhances]**: A module focused on process and quality management, including non-conformance tracking and resolution workflows.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Not publicly disclosed (private company)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly listed; the company is recognized by Built In as a top workplace and is a member of the "Black Flag 100." They highlight deployments in GovCloud and FedRAMP environments, and maintain SOC 2 certification and ITAR compliance.
- **Growth Signals**: Actively hiring across multiple US cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Denver, Austin) for roles like Forward Deployed Software Engineer, Senior Technical Product Manager, and Product Marketing Manager. The company has a "Hybrid" workplace model with flexible on-site expectations. The company is expanding its presence in the AI and developer community space.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep domain expertise**: Founded by former SpaceX and NASA engineers who directly experienced the pain points of legacy MES systems.
- **Security & compliance moat**: Deploys in GovCloud and FedRAMP environments, holds SOC 2 certification, and complies with ITAR regulations — making it the trusted choice for defense, aerospace, and other highly regulated industries.
- **Modern architecture**: Open API, highly configurable, and fast to deploy — a direct alternative to slow, rigid legacy MES systems.
- **Traceability**: The as-built BOM (aBOM) model provides unparalleled, real-time traceability across every part, upgrade, and servicing workflow.
- **AI-powered**: The platform leverages AI to optimize production, compliance, and quality.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the platform**: Expanding the ION Factory OS to serve more advanced manufacturing sectors, including aerospace, defense, medical devices, and climate tech.
- **Security & compliance leadership**: Doubling down on GovCloud, FedRAMP, SOC 2, and ITAR certifications to serve the most demanding government and industry clients.
- **Building the developer community**: Hiring a Product Marketing Manager focused on AI-native and developer community growth, signaling a push to make the platform more accessible and developer-friendly.
- **Geographic expansion**: Opening offices and hiring in multiple US tech hubs (San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Austin) in addition to the El Segundo HQ and Los Angeles base.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as "driven, collaborative, and kind." The team values "All Owners, Data Driven, Technical, Customer-Driven, One Team, Secure, Transparent, Ambitious." They emphasize inclusion and equity, with diverse perspectives creating real value.
- **Work model**: Hybrid — employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work, with flexible time on-site.
- **Perks**: Free snacks and drinks, 401(K), disability and life insurance, company equity, employee stock purchase plan, performance bonuses, generous parental leave, family medical leave, dental, health, and vision insurance, Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
- **Engineering culture**: Uses modern tech stack including Kubernetes, IoT, Amplitude, Google Analytics. The work is deeply technical and impactful — building software that powers rockets, satellites, and medical devices.
- **Growth**: As a 2019 startup with 41 employees, the company is in a high-growth phase with active hiring across multiple roles, offering significant ownership and impact.
- **Location**: HQ in El Segundo, CA (Los Angeles area), with hybrid offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Denver, and Austin.

## Sources
1. [firstresonance.io](https://www.firstresonance.io/)
2. [firstresonance.io/about](https://www.firstresonance.io/about)
3. [firstresonance.io/careers](https://www.firstresonance.io/careers)
4. [builtin.com/company/first-resonance](https://builtin.com/company/first-resonance)
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/first-resonance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/first-resonance)

## Other roles at First Resonance

- [Associate Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/associate-product-manager-first-resonance-los-angeles-ezmatkzj4xbc) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Forward Deployed Software Engineer (New England Area)](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-new-england-area-first-resonance-ri-zq31v41am4ds) — , RI
- [Senior Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-account-executive-first-resonance-los-angeles-64gyt2hx650g) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Product Manager (Supply Chain)](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-supply-chain-first-resonance-los-angeles-f69e7h4ddd9f) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Technical Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-recruiter-first-resonance-los-angeles-1h3g05z4rx0s) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Principal Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-platform-engineer-first-resonance-los-angeles-qn7yx5kadq1j) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Forward Deployed Software Engineer (San Jose)](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-san-jose-first-resonance-san-francisco-c1h2nv65pg6s) — San Francisco, CA
- [Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Seattle)](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-seattle-first-resonance-seattle-txrcxxjpag0k) — Seattle, WA
- [Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Ohio)](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-software-engineer-ohio-first-resonance-los-angeles-h683wgvh3rmb) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Senior Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-first-resonance-los-angeles-ck4pdqpdey0v) — Los Angeles, CA