Senior Software Engineer, Applied AI

This is a senior contract role; the first dedicated software engineer on the team. You’ll work directly with the founder to take Momentum from prototype to credible, demoable product; the kind of thing we can put in front of NASA program managers and aerospace primes without flinching.

The founder is a mechanical/aerospace engineer with strong Python skills and a clear product vision, but is not a full-time software engineer. Your job is to be the person who makes the software actually happen.

There is room for this role to grow into a long-term, larger engagement (or convert to a funded position) as SBIR awards and commercial pilots land. That said: this is not a co-founder search. We’re looking for a strong senior engineer who wants meaningful early-stage work, not someone expecting to run the company.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

In the first 3-6 months, success looks like:

• Shipping the NASA SBIR Phase I demo. A working, defensible product that handles requirements ingestion, traceability, and analysis outputs end-to-end; good enough that NASA wants to fund Phase II.
• Turning founder concepts into working software. Take loose specs about aerospace engineering workflows (trade studies, pedigree/architecture views, sizing/analysis) and turn them into clean implementations without needing constant clarification.
• Owning the AI layer. Make the LLM-driven parts of Momentum actually work in production; reliable, evaluable, and within reasonable cost/latency budgets.
• Setting the architectural foundation. Make the early technical decisions (data model, tool interfaces, deployment, infra) that future engineers won’t curse us for. This is greenfield.
• Standing up the basics. Source control hygiene, CI/CD, environments, deployment, observability.
• Running independently. This role doesn’t work if it needs hand-holding, but you will work side-by-side with the founder.
• Helping us navigate aerospace/defense constraints. Some work is ITAR-adjacent or touches NASA/DoD deliverables. You don’t need to be an expert, but you’ll need to make sensible architecture and tooling choices around it (e.g., GovCloud-eligible models, US-authored LLM options)., * Direct 1099 contract with the individual. We do not hire through LLCs, S-corps, staffing agencies, or any other third-party entity. Corp-to-corp and pass-through arrangements will not be considered.
• No benefits. As an independent contractor, you are responsible for your own taxes, health insurance, retirement, and any other benefits. Compensation is set to reflect this.
• No recruiters or agencies. Please apply directly.

Do you have experience in Python?, Do you have a Master’s degree?, * Are a strong senior generalist who can move from data model to API to AI workflow to deployment without losing momentum.

• Have deep, practical experience with modern LLM-based systems: agents, tool calling, structured outputs, retrieval, evals. Have shipped them in production, not just prototyped.
• Think in systems: latency, cost, failure modes, determinism, not just model quality in isolation.
• Are comfortable with ambiguity and translating fuzzy domain concepts into clean software.
• Can set up infrastructure (containers, CI/CD, cloud deploys) without needing a dedicated DevOps person.
• Communicate clearly in writing: short updates, clean PR descriptions, honest tradeoff calls.
• Want real ownership and influence on an early product, and are okay with the tradeoffs that come with early-stage work.

Primary stack: Python is the main language. Familiarity with TypeScript helps when the UI/AI layers meet. Specific frameworks matter less than judgment. DevOps basic tool familiarity is a plus.

Nice to Have

• Multi-agent / tool-orchestration systems shipped and maintained
• MCP server/client experience
• Retrieval over technical corpora (standards, specs, CAD metadata, etc.)
• Rust or similar systems language for components that need it
• GovCloud, ITAR/CUI, or CMMC-aligned experience (or willingness to learn fast)
• Prior startup or early-stage experience, * Master’s (Preferred)

Experience:

• Software development: 5 years (Preferred)

$5,000 - $8,000 a month - Contract, * 1-month paid trial, then an expected 3-6 month engagement, with clear room to extend or convert to a funded role if SBIR / commercial contracts land.

• ~20-30 hrs/week, flexible. Heavier around SBIR and customer milestones. Significant growth and workload opportunity likely for those open to it (up to full time).
• Async daily (Slack or similar), 3-5 short syncs per week, 1 weekly written summary.
• High autonomy. You’ll check in for alignment, not permission., * Rate: $5,000-$8,000/month at 20-30 hrs/week, negotiable based on experience, hours, and structure.
• Equity / profit sharing: Open to negotiating for the right fit.
• Conversion path: If follow-on awards or commercial contracts land, this role can grow into a larger role at the startup.

DMC Technologies is building Momentum, an AI-powered platform that automates aerospace hardware design workflows. The founder has 13 years leading hardware development at SpaceX, Relativity Space, and Lilium. This is an aerospace company building software, not the reverse.

Current status: Bootstrapped, pre-fundraising. Active NASA SBIR Ignite Phase I award and active proposals with USSF, DIU, and DARPA. Forward deployed at aerospace companies leading to commercial pilots. We’re hiring our first dedicated software engineer to partner with the founder, accelerate demo development, and prove market fit.