Senior Software Engineer – Inference

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

We're building the next generation of AI infrastructure — and we want a senior engineer who's excited to help lead that effort. As a Senior Software Engineer on our AI infrastructure team, you'll play a central role in establishing and maintaining the foundation that powers AI capabilities across the customer organization. Your primary focus will be ensuring that users throughout the inference software stack have access to the highest-quality large language models (LLMs) available.

This is not a quiet, steady-state role. Mission needs shift quickly, new technologies emerge constantly, and you'll be expected to stay sharp, adapt, and turn loosely defined problems into working solutions. You'll lead technically, mentor your teammates, and engage directly with stakeholders to make sure engineering outcomes match mission goals.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the evaluation, configuration, and deployment of inference models for users across the organization
• Translate high-level stakeholder goals into concrete engineering outcomes
• Mentor engineers and drive development best practices and standards across the team
• Develop in-house services and techniques to ensure continual, high-quality inference for the customer
• Engage with other teams to build solid infrastructure and integrate LLM-powered tools for user needs
• Collaborate with teammates on surge efforts to support short-term, high-priority inference requirements

📋 Requirements

• 12 years of experience in software engineering, or a B.S. in a technical discipline with 12 years of experience (16 years of experience accepted in lieu of a B.S.)
• Experience with Python and/or other modern programming languages
• Experience with Argo CD and/or other CI/CD frameworks
• Experience with Kubernetes and Helm
• Experience with AWS or other cloud service providers
• Strong communication skills with the ability to mentor other engineers
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills
• Demonstrated ability to balance hands-on engineering with leadership and coordination responsibilities
• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph

🌟 Preferred Skills

• Experience with vLLM, LiteLLM, or similar inference-serving frameworks
• Experience with other LLM hosting frameworks and practices
• Experience supporting production software using Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) best practices
• Experience with Elastic, Grafana/Prometheus, or other observability frameworks and practices
• Experience with Docker and containerization
• Experience in traffic shaping and quality-of-service engineering
• Knowledge of and genuine interest in hosting AI capabilities

🏝️ 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.

Last updated: 8/3/26