Senior Backend Software Engineer (Python / FastAPI)
San Francisco, CAJob$140–240K/yrPosted todayStill listed today
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Requirements
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Job overview
The Senior Backend Software Engineer will build backend services and data pipelines that move radar sensor data from the field to operators. The role owns streaming, storage, and replay of detections, tracks, and telemetry, and shapes the platform architecture as capabilities and scale grow. The position is on-site in San Francisco and requires a U.S. Person able to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Benefits
Full job description
Senior Backend Software Engineer (Python / FastAPI) San Francisco, CA (On-site) | $140k–$240k base + pre-IPO stock options Build the real-time backend that turns radar sensor data into decisions people can act on. CHAOS Industries is a defense tech company founded in 2022 that has raised $1B from investors including 8VC, Accel and Valor Equity Partners. You’ll own the backend services and data pipelines that move sensor data from radars in the field to the operators who depend on it. What you’ll do
- Build high-performance Python services that ingest, process and distribute real-time sensor data with low latency, high reliability and security at scale
- Build high-performance Python (FastAPI) services that ingest, process and distribute real-time data securely at scale
- Own streaming, storage and replay of detections, tracks and telemetry for live and playback 3D geospatial views
- Build the decision layer that coordinates a growing fleet of sensors as field conditions change
- Shape platform architecture for new capabilities, scale and long-term maintainability
You’re a fit if you have
- Strong production experience building backend services in Python (FastAPI or similar)
- Built real-time or streaming data systems: message queues, WebSockets, time-series data
- Owned a production system end to end: designed it, shipped it, fixed it when it broke
- Real leverage from AI coding tools, with a considered view on what to delegate and what not to
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, the San Francisco Bay Area (this role is on-site)
Nice to have
- Geospatial or 3D data visualization in TypeScript and React
- Edge computing, or moving data reliably over constrained or unreliable networks
- Azure or another major cloud platform
- Hardware, sensors, robotics, telemetry or defense systems
What you get
- Medical, dental and vision, 100% paid by the company
- 401k with 50% company match up to 6% of pay, plus FSA, HSA and life insurance
- Pre-IPO stock options, relocation assistance, and annual bonuses (coming soon)
- Unlimited PTO and a casual dress code
- Free daily lunch while you’re working on-site, plus a fully stocked kitchen
Pay range shown is base salary only and excludes equity, bonuses and benefits. Actual offers vary based on experience, skills and business needs. Please note: Must be a U.S. Person as defined under U.S. export control regulations, as required for access to controlled technology, and able to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. Apply now. It takes just 2 minutes.
How this job compares
Set against the 41,631 open Software Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$140–240K/yr
- California median$165–246K/yr7,700 salary ranges
- US median$135–217K/yr33,223 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $190K, is 7% below the California median midpoint ($205K) — in the middle half of Software Engineer salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 9,578 open Software Engineer jobs in California and 41,631 across the US. 7% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- Software Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 7 years (33,828 postings).
- Education
- 14,293 of the 41,631 open Software Engineer jobs (34%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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