Entry Level Defense Contractor Software Engineer Jobs in Rochester, NY

New York, United States

PhysicsX is a deep-tech company with roots in numerical physics and Formula One, dedicated to accelerating hardware innovation at the speed of software. We are building an AI-driven simulation software stack for engineering and manufacturing across advanced industries. By enabling high-fidelity, multi-physics simulation through AI inference across the entire engineering lifecycle, PhysicsX unlocks new levels of optimization and automation in design, manufacturing, and operations — empowering engineers to push the boundaries of possibility. Our customers include leading innovators in Aerospace & Defense, Materials, Energy, Semiconductors, and Automotive.

Your role, first and foremost, is to help our customers solve their most important problems. As a Senior Forward Deployed Software Engineer, this takes the form of building and deploying applications that utilize the power of our physics AI models to enable our customers to build better, faster, and cheaper. As a member of the delivery team, you'll work directly with customers, data scientists, and machine learning engineers to develop applications that change the way advanced engineering is done. We're looking for someone who can grasp advanced engineering concepts across multiple industries, fundamentally understand the problems that engineers face, and build tools to solve these problems. You'll also have the opportunity to travel to customer sites in North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, for an average of 3-4 weeks per quarter, where you'll collaborate closely with customers to build solutions on-site.

Technical ability: We work across a wide range of engineering disciplines, all of which are high complexity. Someone with a track record of solving hard problems is a must, a background in Mechanical Engineering or similar is a plus. This role deals with breadth across the full stack, having a solid foundation in software engineering, API design, and deploying applications to production is desired.

Proactivity & high ownership: You'll be responsible for driving impact for our customers, whatever that might look like. We're looking for someone who is a go-getter and is naturally inclined to find problems and solve them end-to-end. You own the responsibility to get things done and will pick up the skills and experience needed to solve novel problems quickly.

Solution-focussed: We build tools that customers need, not just the ones they want. So you must be someone who is customer-obsessed and can work alongside our customers to understand their problems and build applications that change the way they do engineering.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams: Collaborate with data scientists and machine learning engineers to ship physics models to our customers in a way that delivers maximum value. Work with designers and front-end engineers to shape the UX in line with customer needs.

E2E application design: Work with customers to shape tools that are impactful for their teams. Construct low-lift prototypes of your ideas and ship them directly to the customer. Rapidly iterate on this experience through constant user feedback.

Backend development: Build and maintain RESTful APIs (FastAPI) and microservices in Python to serve Large Physics Models to the end users. Working with other software engineers in our platform team, deploy these applications to the cloud so they become key tools in our customer's day-to-day workflow. We use a mixture of Helm, Kubernetes, Terraform, and AWS/Azure for provisioning and running our infrastructure.

PhysicsX development: Distill down complex solutions built across multiple use cases into fundamental components. Pitch and execute the development of features on top of our core platform offering. Drive the direction of PhysicsX to be better positioned to solve ever harder problems with our customers.

Build what actually matters

Help shape an AI-native engineering company at a formative stage, tackling problems that genuinely matter for industry and society. This is work with real-world impact - and something you can be proud to stand behind.

Learn alongside exceptional people

Work with a high-caliber, collaborative team of engineers, scientists, and operators who care deeply about doing great work, and about helping each other get better. We come from diverse backgrounds, but we share a commitment to operating at the highest level and addressing some of the most complex challenges out there. If you're ambitious, thoughtful, and driven by impact, you'll feel at home.

Influence over hierarchy

We operate with a flat structure: good ideas win - wherever they come from. Questioning assumptions and challenging the status quo isn't just welcomed, it's expected.

Sustainable pace, long-term ambition

Building meaningful technology is a marathon, not a sprint. We believe in balancing focused, ambitious work with a life beyond it. Our hybrid model blends time together in our New York office with work-from-home days, giving you the flexibility to work sustainably while staying connected in person.

And it doesn't stop there …

Equity options - share meaningfully in the company you're helping to build.

5% contribution to 401(k) - build long-term security with a strong retirement plan.

Free team lunch 1x/week - good food, great company, and space to connect.

Private health insurance – comprehensive cover for you, offering total peace of mind.

Enhanced parental leave – 3 months full pay paternity and 6 months full pay maternity leave, to provide extra flexibility during the moments that matter most.

20 days of Annual Leave (+ Public Holidays) - because taking time to rest matters.

Personal development – dedicated support for learning, development, and leveling up over time.

Gympass / Wellhub (subsidized) – for you and up to 3 family members, supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare expenses.

Watch this space, we're continuing to build this as we grow…

Salary range: $150,000 - $250,000 depending on experience Seniority will be assessed as part of the interview process

We value diversity and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in tech to apply. To help make a change, we sponsor bright women from disadvantaged backgrounds through their university degrees in science and mathematics. We collect diversity and inclusion data solely for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of our equal opportunities policies and ensuring compliance with UK employment and equality legislation. This information is confidential, used only in aggregate form, and will not influence the outcome of your application.