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 need a Senior Software Engineer who can help lead the charge. In this role, you'll be a core member of an AI infrastructure team focused on making the highest-quality large language models (LLMs) accessible to users across a complex, mission-driven organization. This isn't just about keeping the lights on — it's about shaping how AI capabilities are delivered, scaled, and improved in an environment where mission needs evolve quickly and the stakes are real.

You'll wear a few hats here. Some days you'll be deep in the stack, building and refining inference services. Other days you'll be translating big-picture stakeholder goals into concrete engineering outcomes, mentoring your teammates, or collaborating across teams to integrate LLM-powered tools into user workflows. If you thrive at the intersection of hands-on engineering and technical leadership — and you're genuinely excited about where AI infrastructure is headed — this role was built for you.

📋 Requirements

• Lead the evaluation, configuration, and deployment of inference models for end users
• Translate high-level stakeholder goals into actionable engineering outcomes
• Mentor engineers and champion development best practices and standards across the team
• Develop in-house services and techniques that ensure continual, high-quality inference for customers
• Engage with partner teams to establish solid infrastructure foundations and integrate LLM-powered tools into user workflows
• Collaborate on surge efforts to address short-term, high-priority inference needs as they arise
• 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 and demonstrated ability to mentor other engineers
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to balance hands-on engineering responsibilities with leadership and coordination duties
• 12 years of experience in a relevant technical discipline, or a B.S. in a technical discipline with 12 years of experience; 16 years of experience may be substituted in lieu of a B.S.

🌟 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 and scaling 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