# Senior Mac / Software Engineer **Herding Cats Research LLC** · Remote (United States) · Full-time, exempt · Two openings --- ## The Role You will build and own substantial pieces of HCR's research codebase. Most of our tooling runs on macOS (development) and Linux (deployment and compute). You will ship working software against DoD research contracts — not slideware, not a dashboard, actual tools that change what an analyst or a small staff can do in a compressed planning window. On any given month you might be: - Architecting the next iteration of our multi-agent orchestration harness in Python and Swift. - Wiring a macOS-native desktop client against a Linux-side research service. - Running the perception/planning loop on a test rig and instrumenting where it falls over. - Reading a DoD research solicitation and translating §5 into an execution plan for a three-person team. - Writing the brief that convinces the customer our approach is worth the next option year. We expect senior ICs to hold the pen on design decisions, write clean commit histories, and mentor the next hire when they arrive. --- ## You Might Be a Fit If - You have **seven-plus years of production software experience**, or a B.S./M.S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, EE, Math, or equivalent military technical background (for example MOS 25-series, Signal, Cyber) with demonstrable shipping experience. - You are genuinely fluent in at least one of: Swift (macOS/iOS), Python, Rust, C++, or Go — and comfortable crossing language boundaries when the problem demands it. - You have shipped something real that someone depends on today. You can walk us through a decision you made three years ago and what you would do differently now. - You have opinions about testing, about version control hygiene, and about the cost of complexity — and you can defend them without getting religious about them. - You can read a technical specification, find the three places it is wrong, and write a response that moves the conversation forward rather than shutting it down. - You are comfortable in environments where requirements arrive as a colonel's napkin sketch and leave as a signed deliverable. --- ## Strong Plus (Not Required) - Prior military technical experience — Signal, Cyber, Intelligence, Space, or service-branch research labs. The work will go faster because we will not have to explain why a kill chain is not a tech buzzword. - Experience with autonomy stacks (ROS, NVIDIA Isaac, PX4, ArduPilot) or multi-agent systems (LangGraph, AutoGen, AgentScope, or equivalents). - Experience delivering against federal research contracts — DARPA, ONR, AFRL, ARL, DIU, or service lab programs. - Contributions to open source you can point us at. - Graduate-level research publications in ML, HCI, or systems. We are more interested in evidence you can ship than credentials. An honest portfolio beats a CV full of titles. --- ## What You Will Work On First One of the two openings will lead our **macOS orchestration surface** — the human-in-the-loop interface through which an operator drives a team of AI research agents. You will own the full stack for that surface. The other will lead **research-side systems engineering** — the services that run on Linux, talk to model APIs, persist state, and return structured results. You will own service design, deployment, and the test harness. We will decide which seat fits which candidate during the interview — don't self-select out based on the label. --- ## Compensation **Base salary range:** $140,000 – $185,000. Final offer is based on depth of experience, leadership scope, and location. The upper end of the range is reserved for candidates who have led engineering work at a comparable senior level for multiple years. Equity may be introduced in Year 2 as HCR scales. The range above is disclosed in compliance with pay-transparency laws applicable to applicants in California, Colorado, New York, and Washington. --- ## Logistics - **Work authorization:** You must be authorized to work in the United States at time of hire. HCR does not currently sponsor employment visas. - **U.S. person eligibility:** Required. This role may touch ITAR- or EAR-controlled technical data. - **Security clearance:** Clearable. HCR will sponsor eligible candidates through the standard DoD process. No active clearance required at hire, but you must be willing and eligible to pursue one. - **Location:** Remote anywhere in the continental U.S. Quarterly in-person in Austin, TX. Occasional travel to program offices or customer sites (roughly 10% of the year). - **Employment type:** W-2 full-time, exempt. - **Start date:** Rolling — we will match start dates to project phase. --- ## How to Apply Send your application to **`[email protected]`**. - **Subject line:** `[Senior Mac Engineer] – Last Name, First Name` - **Attachments:** Resume as `LastName_FirstName_Resume.pdf`. Optional: cover letter, code sample or public repo link. - **What we look for in a cover letter:** Why this work, not why a job. One project you are proud of and one you would do differently. You will receive an auto-acknowledgment within one business hour. Expect a substantive response within ten business days. --- ## Process 1. **Screening call** (30 minutes). A conversation, not a trivia quiz. 2. **Technical deep-dive** (60 – 90 minutes). We go through a real design problem from HCR's backlog. You drive. 3. **Founder conversation** (45 minutes). Mission fit, compensation specifics, questions for us. 4. **Offer.** Conditional on background check and I-9 verification. Total time: three to five weeks. We move faster when we can. --- > **Equal Opportunity & Accessibility** > > Herding Cats Research LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities — to request one, email `[email protected]` with subject `[Accommodation Request]`. > > We actively welcome applications from veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses. HCR complies with USERRA. > > **Work Authorization.** All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. HCR verifies eligibility through the I-9 process and does not currently sponsor employment visas. This role requires U.S. person status under 22 CFR § 120.62. > > **Employment Terms.** Employment is at-will. Either party may terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. Offers are contingent upon satisfactory background check consistent with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. > > **Applicant Privacy.** Application materials are used solely for hiring evaluation, retained for 12 months, and then securely deleted. California applicants: see our full CCPA notice on the Careers page.