Twenty · 3 months ago
Principal Software Engineer (Backend)
Washington DC
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff
12+ years expTwenty is a company focused on defending democracies in the digital age by developing revolutionary technologies. They are seeking a Principal Backend Engineer to architect and lead the development of cyber technologies that protect national security, requiring extensive experience in software development and technical leadership.
Cyber SecurityMilitarySoftware
No H1B
Security Clearance RequiredU.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Define and drive the technical architecture and strategic vision for Twenty's backend systems across all products and services
Lead organization-wide architectural decisions and technical initiatives that impact multiple teams and systems
Evaluate and champion adoption of emerging technologies and architectural patterns that could transform our cyber operations capabilities
Serve as the principal technical authority and final decision-maker for complex architectural trade-offs
Drive technical strategy alignment with business objectives and operational requirements
Partner with executive leadership to shape long-term technology roadmaps and investment priorities
Architect highly scalable, fault-tolerant distributed systems that process real-time cyber operation data across multiple domains (cyber network, cyber persona, physical world, electromagnetic spectrum)
Design and optimize sophisticated graph database architectures using Neo4j and AWS Neptune to support advanced AI-powered relationship mapping and intelligence analysis
Lead the design of event-driven architectures using NATS and other message queue systems for real-time communication at scale
Establish architectural patterns and frameworks for microservices that serve as standards across the organization
Drive innovation in applying AI/ML systems integration with graph databases for operational intelligence
Design systems that handle WiFi exploitation, IoT protocol analysis, and electromagnetic spectrum operations at scale
Establish and evolve engineering standards, best practices, and development processes across backend teams
Lead research initiatives to explore cutting-edge technologies and methodologies that advance our technical capabilities
Drive innovation in performance optimization, achieving breakthrough improvements in system throughput and latency
Champion engineering excellence through advocacy of testing strategies, code quality standards, and operational excellence
Lead incident response for the most critical system issues and drive systemic improvements to prevent recurrence
Publish technical papers, speak at conferences, and represent Twenty's engineering capabilities externally
Mentor and develop senior engineers and technical leads, building the next generation of technical leadership
Lead architecture review boards and facilitate cross-team technical decision-making
Influence and guide technical direction across multiple engineering teams
Collaborate with product leadership to translate complex operational requirements into technical solutions
Build strong relationships with government stakeholders and represent Twenty's technical capabilities at the highest levels
Participate in executive-level technical planning and contribute to organizational strategy
Work closely with cyber operations experts, intelligence analysts, and forward deployed teams to ensure systems meet mission-critical requirements
Partner with SRE teams to ensure operational excellence and reliability of backend systems in secure government environments
Collaborate with frontend teams to design optimal API contracts and data structures
Coordinate with security teams to implement defense-in-depth architectures and threat mitigation strategies
Engage directly with government customers to understand evolving mission needs and validate technical approaches
Qualification
Required
12+ years of professional software development experience with increasing technical leadership responsibilities
Mastery-level proficiency in Go (Golang) with demonstrated ability to design and implement large-scale production systems
Proven track record of leading major architectural initiatives and technical transformations
Deep expertise in distributed systems architecture, consensus algorithms, and fault tolerance patterns
Expert-level experience with graph databases (Neo4j, AWS Neptune, or similar) including advanced query optimization and schema design
Extensive experience architecting event-driven systems, message queues (NATS, Kafka, RabbitMQ), and real-time data processing
Advanced proficiency with cloud platforms, particularly AWS, including deep knowledge of networking, security, and infrastructure services
Expert knowledge of containerization, Kubernetes, microservices architectures, and service mesh technologies
Deep understanding of security architecture, zero-trust principles, secure coding, and threat modeling
Extensive experience with performance engineering, profiling, optimization, and capacity planning for high-throughput systems
Strong background in AI/ML systems integration and production deployment of machine learning models
Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation) and GitOps practices
Demonstrated experience as a technical leader driving architecture decisions across organizations
Proven ability to influence without direct authority and build consensus among diverse stakeholders
Strong track record of mentoring senior engineers and building high-performing technical teams
Exceptional communication skills with ability to explain complex technical concepts to executive leadership, government stakeholders, and technical teams
Experience leading technical due diligence, vendor evaluations, and build-vs-buy decisions
Demonstrated ability to balance technical excellence with business pragmatism and delivery timelines
Track record of driving cultural change and establishing engineering best practices organization-wide
Experience with large-scale data processing, analytics, and intelligence production systems
Knowledge of cyber threat intelligence, threat actor attribution, and persona analysis
Understanding of electromagnetic spectrum operations, WiFi protocols, and IoT security
Familiarity with government security requirements, compliance frameworks, and operational constraints
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field; Master's degree or PhD preferred
Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a security clearance
Ability to work on-site in Arlington, VA with occasional travel to Fort Meade, MD and other government facilities
Preferred
Previous experience as Principal Engineer or Staff+ level role in technology companies
Track record of delivering complex technical solutions in defense, intelligence, or national security contexts
Published research, patents, or recognized contributions to the software engineering community
Experience with defense acquisition processes, government program management, or public-private partnerships
Background in training and mentoring across multiple organizations or companies
Previous experience founding or leading engineering teams at startups or high-growth companies
Advanced technical certifications in cloud platforms, security, or distributed systems
Open-source project leadership or significant contributions to major projects
Speaking engagements at major technical conferences or industry events
Experience with multiple programming languages beyond Go (Python, Rust, Java, C++)
Expert knowledge of database systems (relational, document, time-series, and graph databases)
Experience with observability platforms (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, Datadog, New Relic)
Understanding of compliance requirements (FedRAMP, NIST, DoD security standards) and secure development lifecycle
Experience with advanced networking concepts, SDN, and network function virtualization
Knowledge of hardware acceleration (GPUs, FPGAs) for compute-intensive workloads
Experience with multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures
Experience with real-time streaming analytics and complex event processing
Knowledge of data governance, data lineage, and metadata management systems
Company
Twenty
We apply world-class software engineering to a warfighting domain of persistent conflict.
11-50 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$38MKey Investors
Caffeinated Capital
2025-11-20Series A· $38M
Company data provided by crunchbase