Senior Software Engineer - Cyber (Clearance Required) at Vannevar Labs

About the role

Aplyr's Quick Take

This role is for a Senior Software Engineer focused on developing Cyber products for national security. You'll be building a key product from the ground up, working closely with users to understand their needs and translating those into actionable software solutions. It's a hands-on, individual contributor role with significant responsibility for product direction.

Good fit

Ideal candidates have several years of software engineering experience, particularly in cybersecurity or defense-related fields. A proactive, user-focused approach and the ability to work in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment will help you thrive here.

Worth noting

The position requires a security clearance, which may limit the applicant pool. The role emphasizes building products in a 0→1 capacity, which is a unique opportunity for those looking to make a significant impact from the start.

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

About the role

We’re looking for a senior engineer to lead the development of new Cyber products in support of national security missions. This is a 0→1 builder role - taking a product from concept to operational deployment while working directly with end users and shaping both the product and the problem space.

You’ll own our flagship Cyber product, Cyber Recon - an external attack surface management platform built for cyber operators. This is not a traditional forward-deployed role, but it requires the same level of mission ownership, user empathy, and execution velocity - applied to building a durable product.

What you’ll do

Own end-to-end development of Cyber Recon and adjacent products (backend systems, data pipelines, and user-facing applications)
Build intuitive, high-performance interfaces for exploring and acting on complex cyber data
Work directly with users in mission environments to understand needs, iterate quickly, and deploy into real environments
Design systems to ingest, normalize, and analyze large-scale external attack surface data
Translate ambiguous problems into concrete product and engineering decisions
Drive product and technical direction for Cyber
Deploy and support software in secure, constrained environments
Travel 2-3 times per month to customer sites (primarily East Coast)

What we value

10+ years building and shipping production software systems
Strong full-stack skills (backend systems, APIs, data modeling, modern frontend)
Comfortable moving between frontend, backend, and product decisions on a daily basis
Experience building user-facing products with strong usability and performance
Experience operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments with high ownership
Experience building cybersecurity products or conducting cyber operations in government environments
Familiarity with external attack surface management, internet-scale data collection, or adversary infrastructure analysis
Prior experience working with classified systems or secure deployments
Currently holds or previously held a CI Polygraph (preferred); ability and willingness to obtain a CI Polygraph required

What we offer

We’re proud to offer competitive benefits that support our employees. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:

Health, dental, and vision insurance
Remote friendly with WeWork access
Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
401(k) match
Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
Salary top-up during military reserve duty
Fully paid parental leave
Child and pet care reimbursement during travel

Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you!

IMPORTANT NOTICE
We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.

Skills & Tags

go rust ai frontend backend data product design

Aplyr's read

Vannevar Labs develops cutting-edge AI for defense, attracting tech-savvy professionals passionate about national security and innovative technology solutions.
Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

•Focuses on advanced AI solutions with real-world defense applications.
•Opportunities in high-impact roles requiring security clearance, indicating trust and responsibility.
•Growing portfolio of roles suggests expansion and diverse career paths.

What to watch

•High-security clearance requirements limit applicant pool.
•Defense focus may not align with all tech professionals' values.
•Limited public information about company culture and work-life balance.

Why Vannevar Labs

•Specializes in AI for national security, a niche market.
•Roles like 'Mission Lead' and 'Forward Deployed Engineer' highlight unique operational focus.
•Emphasizes security-clearance roles, indicating high trust and responsibility.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?