Software Engineer - Software Engineer

About Ironstead

Ironstead Industrial Inc. acquires precision machine shops and manufacturing businesses in aerospace/defense, maritime, and commercial sectors, and rebuilds them into modern, data-driven operations. We don't run playbooks from a spreadsheet in another state. We parachute in, work shoulder to shoulder with machine operators, and rebuild the operating system of the business from the inside. IronsteadOS, our purpose-built operating platform syncing customer design to final inspection & logistics, is the backbone of that transformation, but the platform only works if someone on the ground earns the trust to implement it.

The Role

We’re looking for a Member of Technical Staff who believes atoms>>bits and can own and contribute across multiple facets of a large and ambitious software system spanning hardware/edge software/backend/models/UI. IronsteadOS includes:

• Data collection hardware installed on the edge at Ironstead factories to interface with CNC machine tools, CMM inspection devices, and cameras/microphones/sensors

• Shop floor manufacturing execution system (MES) and associated physical user interfaces for CNC operators, quality inspectors, inventory managers, and packing/logistics teams

• Front office scheduling, routing, quoting, monitoring, and invoicing systems

• Customer-facing parts ordering and order tracking web application

• AI solutions for design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis, instant quoting, manufacturing plan creation, CAM toolpath generation, predictive maintenance, and operator training

You will work alongside our Integration Team (manufacturing engineers) and machine shop staff (general managers, CAM programmers, CNC operators, quality inspectors) to develop and deploy software+AI systems that accelerate the manufacturing process. You will own large parts of the product development lifecycle from requirements capture through implementation, testing, and deployment. You will constantly encounter new digital, physical, and human systems to wrap your head around and build software to turbocharge. The team is based in NYC and each of us will have frequent presence onsite at Ironstead shops.

We’re a lean team of generalists building a software engineering org from scratch in the era of agents. We have a high bar for quality, ownership, and velocity, and are merging the hard-learned best practices from the past few decades with the new capabilities unlocked in the past few years. Our tech stack is Python, Typescript/React, Postgres, and OpenTofu managed in a monorepo and deployed on AWS.

Requirements

• Strong software engineering fundamentals. You have written and deployed complex systems in a professional context and have strong opinions about the right way to do it

• High agency and urgency. Ability to operate with a high degree of freedom and effectively drive projects through delivery to the end user

• Fast learner with a growth mindset. Openness is a must — manufacturing has a lot of jargon to pick up and software engineering as a discipline is itself evolving quickly. We’re hiring for slope, not y-intercept

• Belief that practice > theory. Natural bias towards shipping and learning from real-world interactions over analysis

• Wants to come into the office in Manhattan 5+ days a week. We’re building an in-person team with its center of mass in the city

• Willing to spend ≤20% of time onsite at Ironstead factories across the US

• Ability to pass any background/export-compliance screening required for defense-related client sites (ITAR-sensitive facilities); U.S. Citizenship required due to ITAR/export control considerations

Nice-to-Have

• Personal or professional projects in manufacturing, CNC, robotics, or other physical domains

• Experience training or fine-tuning models for computer vision or language tasks

• Familiarity with CAD/CAM tools, GD&T/metrology, 3D printers, or CNC machines

• UX design or product management experience (while primarily being a software engineer)

• Active Secret/TS/SCI clearance

• Experience implementing compliance controls for CMMC Level 2, ITAR/EAR export control, AS9100, ISO 9001, and other required frameworks for defense manufacturing

• Desire to be onsite at factories >20% of the time

Ironstead Industrial Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.