Founding Backend Engineer

*Airbase*
builds the software platform for radio frequency spectrum licensing, coordination, and intelligence. Backed by a16z, we are a fast-moving, dual-use startup transforming wireless communication from a static, analog bottleneck into a dynamic, software-defined advantage.

Today, the world’s most advanced hardware — from satellite mega-constellations to Army UAS swarms and Electronic Warfare systems — is grounded by 20th-century paperwork. Spectrum coordination relies on fragmented databases, missing systems of record, and decades of static PDFs.
*Airbase*
is fixing this.

We’ve built novel AI pipelines to digitize this analog bureaucracy and translate it into a software-defined, machine-readable data layer. We are transforming the spectrum from a static bottleneck into a dynamic advantage, delivering machine-speed tactical deconfliction for the military and automated licensing for commercial innovators.

We’re looking for a
Founding Backend Engineer
to help shape the foundation of this platform — designing data systems that can handle fragmented, high-stakes datasets and helping us build the core of modern spectrum infrastructure. The problems are hard, the mission is critical, and the impact is global.

What You’ll Do:

• Architect core application logic and APIs - Design clean, extensible interfaces that encapsulate complex business logic rand maintain high-throughput performance.
• Build robust authentication and service orchestration - Implement secure identity management and ensure resilient communication across distributed services to maintain system integrity under heavy load.
• Optimize for performance and system health - Leverage a deep understanding of latency, throughput, and resource utilization to build highly responsive applications for high-stakes environments.
• Integrate and modernize disparate systems - Reconcile fragmented schemas and normalize inconsistent data formats from legacy sources into a coherent, high-performance application layer.

You Should Have:

• Strong Python Experience – Deep proficiency in Python for backend development, including experience with asynchronous programming and understanding of web framework internals.
• Expertise in Event-Driven Architectures (EDA) - Experience building scalable, decoupled systems using Kafka or similar message brokers.
• Cloud Infrastructure - Familiarity with container orchestration (Kubernetes) and cloud-native design patterns.

Nice-To-Haves:

• Experience with Rust - Practical knowledge of building memory-safe, high-performance services, with an emphasis on safe concurrency and low-latency execution.

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary with opportunities for growth and equity in an early stage startup.
• Comprehensive health insurance plans.
• Regular team-building events and company retreats.