VP - Software Engineering

Important pre-read:

This job description will take ~15 minutes to read and ~15 minutes to apply. You increase your chances of selection by 10x if you read this to the end, slowly. Trust us on this.

What is Armory?

What we are building requires hard work, tenacity, ownership, creativity, and way more man-hours than an everyday job.

If you are a savant at what you do, love autonomy, have high agency, and genuinely want to impact the future of this country, we want you to work with us starting yesterday!

Modern conflicts waged remotely demand a radical rethinking of strategy as adversaries deploy inexpensive drones and technology to inflict maximum damage with minimal risk.

If you prefer routine over the dynamic unpredictability of innovation, Armory isn't for you. Our fast-paced environment requires genuine curiosity, resilience, a passion for continuous learning, and comfort with rapid change.

Armory is a new-age defence tech startup building next-generation products to strengthen Indian forces in the modern battlefields.

About the founder

Amardeep Singh is an IIT Bombay alumnus & an aerospace engineer by education. He was a founding member of ideaForge - currently India’s biggest drone company & the first drone company to get listed on the Indian stock exchange.

His 16-year entrepreneurial journey is marked by a series of ambitious ventures spanning across diverse tech domains like Drones, Consumer Hardware, B2B SaaS & AI.

Problems we solve

Our country’s defence systems, conceived in a bygone era, have been outpaced by the rapid advancements in technology, revealing critical gaps that we, at Armory, are poised to bridge.

At Armory, we identify and solve the most critical, complex & specific challenges in modern warfare. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and diving deep into specific problems, we create innovative defence technologies and products that protect our nation and allies.

Why you should NOT join us:

If high stakes, tight deadlines, and significant challenges don't excite you, then our mission to revolutionise defence technology might not align with your career goals. We seek individuals who are ready to push boundaries and are motivated by the urgency of now.

Why you SHOULD join us:

We offer the opportunity to work on groundbreaking projects that strengthen national defence, supported by a team of A players.

Join Armory if you're drawn to solving hard problems and want to create a meaningful & profound impact on national security.

At Armory, you will do the best work of your life. Period.

Requirements

About this role

You will own software engineering at Armory: the architecture, the roadmap, the team, and the standards behind robust, rugged, and critical applications built for defence. The systems you build will run in the field, in real scenarios, where reliability is a baseline, and where a failure has real consequences. This is a builder-leader role. You will write code when the code needs writing and build the team when the team needs building. You'll start in ambiguity, where specs are thin and priorities shift, and turn it into a system that runs with clarity and discipline, without losing speed. We're looking for someone technically exceptional who doesn't need to be the loudest person in the room.

• Design and guide scalable web, mobile & desktop applications, and stay hands-on on the hardest problems.

• Own the integration of software with hardware, RF, and sensor systems, so that the whole stack works as one system in the field, not just in the lab.

• Build hardened, fault-tolerant software that performs under harsh conditions, degraded connectivity, and mission-critical pressure.

• Collaborate with hardware, RF, systems, and design teams to define, design, and ship new features.

• Ensure the performance, security, quality, and responsiveness of everything that ships.

• Hire, mentor, and grow engineers who are better than you.

• Previous experience with Hardware, Software, and/or IoT is a plus.

Must haves

• 12-15 years of professional experience building full-stack products, with 3+ years leading engineers or engineering teams.

• Proven ability to work in ambiguous, zero-to-one environments, and then bring structure to them without killing speed.

• Ability to clearly articulate technology choices and the rationale behind them.

• Software development best practices, with security-first thinking.

• Track record of hiring, retaining, and growing strong engineering teams.

• Exceptional at simple, honest communication. You explain hard things without ego.

• Interest in presenting at conferences or meetups, regardless of scale.

Bonus points for

• Contributions to open-source projects.

• Previous experience with hardware, embedded, IoT, drones or RF systems.

• Practical experience with Three.js, Unity or Unreal Engine, or mapping libraries like Leaflet.js or Mapbox, demonstrated through completed projects.

• Experience as an early engineering leader at a startup.

• Keen interest in defence as an industry.

What will make you successful in this role?

• Deep technical expertise, worn lightly.

• Shipping features weekly and building a team that does the same.

• Bringing order to chaos without adding bureaucracy.

• Integrating software with hardware systems in record time.

• Getting s**t done.

How will we set you up for success in this role?

• A live project:You will jump straight into a live project as soon as you join. No dummy or test projects.

• Access to resources:You name it, we will do everything to get it for you.

• Supportive team:You will be surrounded by the best minds ready to help you.

• Founder access:You will work directly with the founder on what to build and how to build it.

Our Hiring Process

We target to close the hiring process within 14 days of your application.

Round 1: Screening Application

Duration: At your own pace, but if it takes you less than 15 minutes to apply, you are unlikely to move to the next round.

How to ace: Do not copy-paste your answers from a website or ChatGPT. Be specific in your answers. It's about you.

Codeword: Use Tripwirein the application form where it asks you for Codeword. This way we know you have read the JD :)

Round 2: Culture Connect

Duration: 30 minutes

How to ace: Be yourself. We want to know YOU, not some ideal, unrealistic person. We're building a small team where the people matter as much as the code, so a vibe match comes before we go deeper. This conversation is with our Talent Acquisition team.

Round 3: Founder Round

Duration: 1 hour

How to ace: Tell us your story. Take us through the projects you're proudest of, the calls you made that others thought were crazy, and the ones you got wrong. Share the unconventional turns in your career and the quirks that make you who you are. Help us understand your goals and aspirations. Ask good questions.

Round 4: In-Person Meet

Duration: 1 hour

How to ace: Visit us in Gurgaon, meet the team, and see what we're building. Be yourself. We want to know YOU, not some ideal, unrealistic person. Share some of the stories that have made you what you are. Ask good questions.

Congratulations! You are now a part of Armory. You will build something that lets you sleep at night with a feeling that you did something meaningful. Buckle up for a ride into the future.

Work Location

Armory highly values having employees working in the office. We are establishing a collaborative work environment and company culture, and that simply does not happen from home. We are based out of Gurgaon and require employees to be in the office.

Benefits

What we expect from you

• Genuine curiosity
• Founder's mindset
• First principles thinking
• Execution, not just ideas
• Bias for action
• High energy
• High agency
• Highest level of integrity
• Getting your hands dirty
• Audacious state of mind
• Humility. The best person in the room doesn't need to announce it.

What to expect from us

• Team of A players
• Work directly with the founder
• Ridiculous levels of responsibility
• Fast & decisive approach
• Work on hard problems

What your first 3 months at Armory will look like:

30 Days

• Complete the onboarding process, learn about our mission and values, meet your team, and understand ongoing projects and priorities.
• Set up your development environment and familiarise yourself with the tools, software, and equipment.
• Audit the current architecture, codebase, and engineering practices. Meet every engineer one-on-one.
• Contribute to a live project across front-end and back-end, and ship something to production.

60 Days

• Collaborate with the design team and hardware teams to implement new features and functionalities.
• Fix what is fragile. Set up the basics of code review, testing, CI/CD, release and security practices.
• Develop and guide real-time data processing and WebSocket-based streaming for seamless data interaction.
• Showcase a working prototype of a new feature or improvement to an existing application.

90 Days

• Present a clear engineering plan covering architecture, team structure, hiring and delivery process.
• Lead the development and implementation of a major feature or module within our application stack.
• Define and execute comprehensive test plans for full-stack validation, including end-to-end testing.
• Optimise application performance based on test results and user feedback, focusing on scalability and efficiency.
• Identify opportunities for code modularity, reusability, and scalability.
• Engage in discussions about innovative technologies and potential patents.
• Develop a long-term plan for personal growth and development within the company, discussing your career aspirations with the founder.

Tips

Irrespective of whether you apply to Armory or not, some of the following tips will definitely help you in your job search.

How to get hired

• Targeted Applications: Ensure your application is tailored specifically for the job you're applying for by understanding its requirements and showcasing relevant experiences and skills. Apply for THIS job, not some job.
• Quality Over Quantity: Instead of applying to 100 jobs casually, it's far better to apply to 4 seriously.
• Stand out: Most people don't put any effort into applying to jobs; their applications look exactly the same. It's easy to stand out from them just by putting a little effort and showcasing your relevant experience and interest for the said job.

How to NOT get hired

If your cover letter starts with "Honestly, I possess all the skills and experience that you're looking for," then you are not going to make it.

In fact, we wrote a long thread on all the ways you will NOT get hired. https://x.com/singhamardeep/status/1459114743398998018?s=46 We highly recommend that you read it.

We wish you the best in your job search!