VP of Engineering at DEF CON

Description

ABOUT DEFCON AI

RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF DISRUPTION. DEFCON AI is an insights company that leverages artificial intelligence, mathematical optimization, data analytics, and software engineering for resilient optimization of complex systems.

In today’s dynamically changing world, DEFCON AI’s technology aligns outcomes with operational goals, better decision making, and empowers customers to anticipate assess, and mitigate the impacts of disruptions.

About this Role

We’re looking for a highly proactive VP of Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing team building cutting-edge AI enabled technology. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can balance technical vision, team building and execution – and thrives in a fast-moving, start-up environment delivering systems that perform reliability in real-world, high stakes environments.

This role goes beyond building scalable products – you’ll lead the development of secure, resilient, and auditable systems deployed in demanding customer environments, including government and defense contexts. This role owns the eovlution of a complex platform spanning planning engines, backend services, data and AI systems, secure cloud infrastrcure and user-facing applications.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and grow a high-performing engineering team of 10+ senior software engineers, with a strong focus on mentorship, technical excellence, and healthy delivery practices.

• Set technical vision and execution strategy across our full stack—frontend, backend services, data platforms, and integrations with AI/optimization systems.

• Drive experimentation and thoughtful innovation, encouraging teams to explore unconventional approaches while maintaining reliability, security, and healthy delivery practices.

• Partner closely with optimization researchers and analytics teams to translate complex algorithms and models into scalable, reliable production systems.

• Own engineering delivery: roadmaps, execution plans, engineering standards, and architectural decisions that balance speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.

• Oversee complex, multi-layered systems end-to-end, making high impact technical decisions that account for architecture, data, algorithms and operations together rather than in isolation.

• Drive engineering excellence establishing high standards for code quality, system design, testing and reliability

• Champion engineering at the leadership level, ensuring the team has the tools, clarity, and focus to do their best work.

• Partner with Security and Compliance to ensure engineering systems, processes and environments support CUI handling, NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, DFARS and customer security requirements

What We’re Looking For

• Proven experience leading and scaling high performing engineering teams in a high-growth or startup environment
• Strong technical background acrossmodern web architectures, APIs, distributed systems, and cloud platforms.
• Experience bringing complex AI, optimization, or data-intensive systems into production environments.
• Track record of setting technical direction while also getting things shipped.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguous problem spaces and translate abstract business or mission goals into concrete technical strategies and execution plans.
• Clear, compelling communication skills—able to translate complex technical concepts for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, evolving environment with real ownership and influence.
• Experience operating in DoD, IC, federal or similarly regulated environments.
• Working knowledge of CUI handling, NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, DFARS252.204.7012
• Experience with secure SDLC/DevSecOps, vulnerability management, logging, hardening, and auditability
• This role requires US Citizenship and all work to be performed within the United States

Nice to Have

• Experience integrating production systems with Python-based analytics or AI workflows.
• Familiarity with modern DevOps, observability, and reliability practices.
• Familiarity with real-time systems, asynchronous processing, and data-intensive applications
• Experience supporting live exercises, demonstrations, operational test events, or time-sensitive deployments
• Experience with mathematical optimization and machine learning.
• Experience with RMF, ATO, or cATO processes
• Experience with ITAR/EAR or export-controlled environments

Why DEFCON AI

• Direct impact on company strategy and technical direction
• Opportunity to lead and shape a world-class engineering team
• Meaningful AI-driven problems with real-world applications
• You’ll have both strategic influence and hands-on impact.

What We Offer:

• A fully remote, results-based environment
• Competitive salary, bonus, and equity package
• 100% employer paid, comprehensive health insurance including medical, dental, and vision for you and your family
• Unlimited PTO, with your manager’s approval
• Flexible work environment where you manage your work day
• 14 weeks of fully-paid parental leave

Salary Range: $250,000-$290,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience, skills, and other factors.

We’re an Equal Opportunity Employer: You’ll receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability.

Applicant Data Disclosure

By submitting an application, you acknowledge that Defcon AI uses third-party service providers to facilitate its recruitment and hiring processes. These providers include applicant tracking systems, candidate verification platforms, and fraud detection tools (collectively, “Hiring Platforms”). Your application materials, including your résumé, cover letter, work samples, responses to application questions, and any other information you submit, may be transmitted to and processed by these Hiring Platforms for the following purposes:

• Managing and administering your application throughout the hiring process;
• Verifying the accuracy and authenticity of application materials, including by cross-referencing information you provide against publicly available sources and proprietary databases;
• Identifying indicators of potentially fraudulent, fabricated, or materially misleading application content, including but not limited to discrepancies between submitted materials and publicly available professional profiles, geographic anomalies, and fabricated work histories.

Applications that are flagged through this process as containing indicators of fraud or material misrepresentation may be declined from further consideration. If you have questions about the status of your application or the evaluation process, please contactrecruiting@defconai.com.

Defcon AI requires its Hiring Platform providers to process your information solely for the purposes described above and in accordance with applicable law. Your information will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill these purposes and any applicable legal obligations, after which it will be deleted in accordance with Defcon AI’s data retention policies.

For more information about how your data is used, please refer to our Privacy Policy and Applicant Privacy Notice .