About the Company
Our client is a European defence-focused AI technology company with a mission to support and protect democratic societies. They develop advanced, ethical AI solutions that enable sovereign decision-making and responsible use of powerful technologies.
The organisation brings together world-class engineers, AI specialists, and programme leaders working on complex, real-world challenges. Their culture is open, transparent, and intellectually rigorous, encouraging healthy debate around technology, ethics, and impact. They are seeking mission-driven engineers who want to apply cutting-edge skills to problems of genuine global importance.
The Role
This role sits within a team that designs, builds, and deploys AI-enabled software systems and infrastructure for use in highly constrained, real-time, and safety-critical environments.
The software operates under unusual technical constraints, across rapidly changing conditions, and supports a wide range of demanding use cases. Solutions must be robust, reliable, secure, and intuitive, as they are ultimately used by people operating in high-risk, high-pressure situations.
You will work across a broad technical landscape, including but not limited to:
Distributed systems (e.g. intermittent connectivity, adversarial environments)
Embedded systems (e.g. constrained compute, hardware integration)
Robotics and control systems
Networking (e.g. low-bandwidth, long-range communications)
Deployment infrastructure (e.g. air-gapped systems, heterogeneous fleets
Security (e.g. low-trust networks, sensitive data handling)
Machine learning infrastructure (model development, storage, deployment)
In many areas, the team operates close to the state of the art, often applying research-grade ideas in real-world conditions where reliability and safety are paramount.
Day-to-Day Responsibilities
Review code contributions, proposals, and RFCs, prioritising unblocking others and improving overall system quality
Design and implement new features, algorithms, infrastructure, and end-to-end capabilities
Identify opportunities beyond your immediate remit and proactively contribute improvements
Mentor colleagues and contribute to technical interviews and hiring processes
Share technical knowledge through talks, workshops, and internal learning sessions
Maintain and improve existing systems, working closely with internal and external stakeholders
Reduce technical debt and improve operational reliability and performance
Develop and enhance testing frameworks and benchmarking systems to ensure robustness
Present work in regular internal demos to encourage feedback, alignment, and impact visibility
The technology stack is primarily Rust and Python, with Python used predominantly in ML-heavy components.
Requirements
You should apply if you:
Write clear, maintainable, and performant code
German Speaking
Communicate effectively in written and spoken English
Enjoy collaboration, including code reviews and pair programming
Are comfortable working asynchronously using PRs, RFCs, and written discussions
Have backend development experience with languages such as Rust, Java, Go, or C++
Are familiar with backend interfaces such as REST, GraphQL, gRPC / Protocol Buffers
Care about engineering quality, team culture, and continuous improvement
Believe ethical considerations are a fundamental part of engineering decisions
Applicants are encouraged even if they do not meet every requirement. Impact and capability cannot be fully captured in a checklist.
Nice to Have
Strong experience with Rust and/or Python
Containerised and cloud-native systems (Docker, AWS, Azure)
Observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack)
SQL and streaming databases
Networking and routing protocols (e.g. BGP, IGP)
Cryptographic protocols (e.g. secure communications frameworks)
Hardware or embedded interfaces
Robotics or control systems
Production-grade machine learning systems
Why Join
Work on mission-critical technology with real-world impact
Solve non-standard engineering problems in safety- and ethics-driven environments
Operate at the forefront of AI, distributed systems, and deployment infrastructure
Be part of a company delivering order-of-magnitude improvements, not incremental change
Join a fast-growing organisation already selected for major government contracts
Enjoy autonomy, trust, and the opportunity to shape how teams and technology evolve
What’s on Offer
Competitive compensation and equity participation
Relocation support
Education and learning allowances
Regular company-wide events across Europe
A structured, hands-on onboarding programme focused on real production systems
A culture that values outcomes over time-tracking
Equal Opportunity
The company is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. Applications are welcomed from all backgrounds. Candidates are asked not to include sensitive personal data in their applications.