Staff Software Engineer (Kansas City)

Company Overview

TENEX is an AI-native, automation-first, built-for-scale Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider. We are a force multiplier for defenders, helping organizations enhance their cybersecurity posture through advanced threat detection, rapid response, and continuous protection. Our team is composed of industry experts with deep experience in cybersecurity, automation, and AI-driven solutions. We’re a fast growing startup backed by industry experts and top tier investor Andreessen Horowitz. As an early employee, you’ll play a meaningful role in defining and building our culture. Get in on the ground floor. We’re a small but well-funded team that just raised a substantial round – joining now comes with limited risk and unlimited upside. We are rapidly growing and seeking top talent to join our mission of revolutionizing the cybersecurity landscape.

We are seeking an experienced Staff Software Engineer to join our core engineering team. In this role, you will drive the technical vision and execution of our platform, ensuring that it is reliable, scalable, and secure as we grow. You’ll lead architecture design, guide complex technical decisions, and mentor engineers while remaining deeply hands-on.

As one of the most senior engineers on the team, you’ll balance strategic impact with technical depth—setting the standard for engineering excellence while directly contributing to our codebase. We value proactive builders who thrive in ambiguity, enjoy tackling hard technical problems, and can influence both product and engineering direction.

Location: This role will require onsite in our Overland Park, KS location.

Culture is one of the most important things at TENEX.AI—explore our culture deck at culture.tenex.ai to witness how we embody it, prioritizing the irreplaceable collaboration and community of in-person work. This role is perfect for those already in Overland Park / Kansas City metro, or eager to relocate and commute here, where family-first visionaries build unbreakable cybersecurity empires. Ditch the crushing taxes and restrictions of high-cost states with our incredibly aggressive relocation packages, crafted to propel you and your loved ones into this thriving hub effortlessly and profitably—imagine lower taxes amplifying your success!

Immerse yourself in a pro-family stronghold with timeless Midwest values of integrity, hard work, and community, plus a balanced lifestyle that empowers you to dominate professionally while cherishing what matters most.

For candidates who embody the rare "10x of 10x" talent, we offer the flexibility of fully remote work. If you are an exceptional, unrivaled force in this role and prefer not to relocate at this time, we encourage you to apply for this remote-first position. Please be aware that the competition for these remote roles is exceptionally fierce, and the standards for selection are significantly higher.

Job Responsibilities:

• Own and drive architectural decisions for core systems and services, balancing speed, scalability, and security.

• Lead design and development of distributed backend systems, APIs, and integrations.

• Provide technical leadership across the stack, from backend services to frontend applications.

• Mentor, coach, and up-level engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and pairing.

• Collaborate with product, design, and leadership to shape technical roadmaps.

• Identify and address cross-cutting concerns such as observability, reliability, and performance.

• Champion engineering best practices, ensuring code quality, testing, and maintainability.

• Stay ahead of industry trends in AI, automation, and security, bringing innovative approaches into our platform.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including leadership in designing and scaling complex systems.

• Strong foundation in software engineering principles and distributed systems.

• Expertise in at least one backend language such as Go, Python, or equivalent.

• Experience with modern frontend frameworks (React, Next.js, TypeScript, or similar).

• Proficiency with relational databases such as PostgreSQL or MySQL.

• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or equivalent).

• Demonstrated ability to lead technical direction and mentor other engineers.

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Desired (While experience in all is not required, any of the following would be a plus):

• Experience with containerization technologies like Docker and orchestration tools like Kubernetes.

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines.

• Exposure to AI/ML concepts and technologies, such as:

• Prompt Engineering

• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

• Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT)

• Vector Databases

• Experience working in an early-stage startup environment.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• GCP certifications such as Professional Cloud Developer or Professional Data Engineer are a plus.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to work with cutting-edge AI-driven cybersecurity technologies and Google SecOps solutions.

• Collaborate with a talented and innovative team focused on continuously improving security operations.

• Competitive salary and benefits package.

• A culture of growth and development, with opportunities to expand your knowledge in AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.

If you're passionate about combining cybersecurity expertise with artificial intelligence and have experience with Google SecOps and Chronicle, we encourage you to apply!