Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer

AikiTech, Inc. | Scottsdale, AZ | On-site | Full-time

About AikiTech

AikiTech builds secure generative AI products for the public sector, with initial applications in public safety and education. Our platform is configurable to agency workflows and built from the ground up to meet the security and privacy standards those agencies must satisfy.

Generative AI is advancing rapidly, and the public sector presents some of its most consequential implementation challenges. New model capabilities must be translated into systems that are accurate, secure, observable, configurable, and dependable in real operating environments. AikiTech works at the leading edge of that transition, bringing modern GenAI capabilities into public safety and education without separating innovation from security, privacy, and operational reality.

We have completed a SOC 2 Type II Audit, operate government-cloud environments in both AWS GovCloud and Microsoft Azure Government, maintain a CJIS-aligned security program, and hold third-party FERPA and COPPA certifications. Compliance is part of how we build, not a checklist added at the end.

Learn more at aikitech.ai.

The Role

Your job is to turn fast-moving GenAI capabilities into production systems that public agencies can trust. This is a hands-on senior engineering role with meaningful influence over architecture, model strategy and evaluation, backend services, government-cloud infrastructure, security controls, and agency integrations.

You will work directly with agency technical staff to understand their environments and turn operational requirements into secure, reliable software. You will own what you build from design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, documentation, and the engineering evidence needed to demonstrate that required controls are operating effectively.

What You Will Do

• Build and operate LLM-powered applications on leading public-cloud platforms, including government-approved environments, with responsibility for prompt design, model evaluation, retrieval, guardrails, and production observability.
• Evaluate additional commercial or open-weight models where appropriate.
• Design scalable, secure backend services and data pipelines in Python.
• Build versioned evaluation and regression-testing frameworks that measure accuracy, latency, and failure modes before changes reach customers.
• Work with real-time and near-real-time audio pipelines, telephony integrations, streaming transcription, call metadata, and tight latency requirements.
• Extend our core GenAI platform through configurable capabilities and integrations that fit individual agencies' workflows and data environments.
• Design and operate infrastructure across AWS GovCloud and Microsoft Azure Government, including identity and access management, networking, encryption, secrets management, deployment automation, infrastructure as code, logging, and monitoring.
• Build security and privacy into the development lifecycle through least-privilege access, encryption, audit logging, data-retention controls, vulnerability management, testing, and documented change control.
• Own engineering controls and supporting evidence for our ongoing SOC 2 work and CJIS-alignment assessments, including remediation of technical findings.
• Lead design and code reviews, mentor less-experienced engineers, improve engineering practices, and write clear technical documentation for engineers, auditors, customers, and agency stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Six or more years of professional software engineering experience, including substantial responsibility for designing, owning, and operating production systems or major production components.
• Strong Python skills and experience building production backend services, APIs, and data-processing systems.
• Hands-on experience building applications with LLM APIs and related capabilities such as retrieval, embeddings, evaluation, structured outputs, or model observability.
• Production experience with AWS, Microsoft Azure, or another major public-cloud platform, including several of the following: identity and access management, networking, containers or serverless computing, infrastructure as code, monitoring, and CI/CD.
• Experience designing for security, reliability, and maintainability, not simply making a prototype work.
• Strong debugging and problem-solving skills across application, infrastructure, and integration layers.
• Ability to communicate clearly with engineers, nontechnical stakeholders, customers, and external assessors.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science required.

Preferred Experience

We do not expect one candidate to bring all of the following. Any combination of these experiences is valuable:

• Building production software for, or alongside, government agencies or public-sector vendors.
• Supporting customer deployments involving security reviews, technical integrations, or regulated data.
• Public-safety technology such as 911 systems, PSAP operations, CAD, NG911, emergency communications, or telephony.
• Working in a SOC 2, CJIS-aligned, FedRAMP, StateRAMP, or similarly regulated environment, including implementing engineering controls and responding to assessment findings.
• AWS GovCloud, Microsoft Azure Government, or other government-cloud environments.
• Real-time audio processing, VoIP or SIP, streaming transcription, or event-driven architectures.
• FERPA, COPPA, student-data privacy, or education technology.
• Firsthand professional experience in public safety, emergency communications, or military environments.

Work Authorization and Personnel Requirements

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. AikiTech is unable to provide or assume employment-visa sponsorship for this position.

Location

This is an on-site position in Scottsdale, Arizona, where our engineering team and integration environment are based. You will work closely with the people building, deploying, and supporting the platform while helping create critical technology for public agencies outside the traditional coastal technology hubs.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.
• Participation in AikiTech's stock compensation plan.
• Comprehensive health benefits.
• Paid time off.
• Access to a 401(k) plan.

Why AikiTech

At AikiTech, you will work on technically challenging products with direct public impact. You will have meaningful influence over the architecture, security, and engineering practices of the platform. The work requires both innovation and discipline: using modern AI capabilities while earning the trust of agencies responsible for consequential public services.

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person