Software Architect

About the role

About Caliburn

Caliburn is an independent company under the Fathom5 PEO and is focused on building advanced software for tactical and robotic autonomous systems. Caliburn develops TempestOS, a security-focused operating system built for autonomous and tactical systems operating in demanding environments. The team works across software, edge computing, cybersecurity, robotics, and systems integration to build technology designed for environments where reliability and resilience are critical.

Role Overview Architecture and Design

- Own the architecture of assigned TempestOS subsystems end to end: service boundaries, interfaces, data models, failure modes, and upgrade paths.

- Design for AI Native development. Our team employs AI agents in the design and development of code with our developers providing context and oversight.

- Produce written design artifacts at a level of detail a developer can implement without escalating for interpretation.

- Design for the constraints TempestOS operates under: resource-constrained edge hardware, DDIL links, container orchestration without a reachable control plane, and policy enforcement at runtime.

- Treat security posture as a first-order design input rather than a review gate: least privilege, supply chain attestation, and runtime integrity built into the design rather than bolted on.

- Make the tradeoffs explicit. Every significant decision carries a written rationale and the alternative that was rejected.

- Sequence and decompose designs so work can be parallelized across developers of varying experience without creating integration debt.

Design Review and Technical Standards

- Serve as design authority for changes to subsystems. Review proposals before implementation starts, not after the merge request lands.

- Enforce and mature standards for testing, interface versioning, documentation, and backward compatibility across TempestOS services. This includes updating AI governance documents.

- Identify architectural drift early and propose the correction while it is still cheap.

- Say no to designs that will not survive contact with a deployed system, and explain why in terms the author can act on.

Mentorship and Developer Growth

- Pair with junior and mid-level developers on problems above their current level, with the goal that the goal for them to handle the next challenge on their own.

- Review code with intent to teach. Explain the reasoning behind the corrections over providing the fix.

- Break complex designs into scoped, implementable tasks that stretch a developer without setting them up to fail.

- Run design walkthroughs and internal technical sessions so architectural context is shared rather than held.

- Give direct, timely feedback on quality and delivery. Escalate persistent performance concerns to Engineering leadership.