Full-Stack Developer

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a Full-Stack Developer at HIGHCAT, you'll design, build, and maintain the diverse portfolio of software tools that power our operations. This role focuses on the web applications, native client software, and flashing/diagnostic utilities that both our internal teams and external customers rely on daily. You will be instrumental in creating the infrastructure and toolchains that drive our development velocity.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Full-Stack & Application Development

• Design, build, and maintain a diverse portfolio of software tools, including web-based management dashboards, native client applications, and specialized utility software.

• Develop robust, user-friendly flashing and diagnostic tools that ensure reliability for both internal engineering teams and external end-users.

• Maintain high standards for UI/UX, ensuring that complex technical tools remain intuitive and accessible to operators and engineers alike.

Tooling, Infrastructure & Ecosystem

• Build the infrastructure that powers our internal development workflows-creating CLI tools, automation scripts, and build/flashing systems.

• Architect solutions that bridge the gap between frontend interfaces and low-level system interactions.

• Proactively identify bottlenecks in our tooling and design scalable solutions to streamline daily operations.

• Configure and maintain networking and server infrastructure to support internal tool deployment.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with engineering, field operations, and product teams to translate specific operational or diagnostic needs into functional, reliable software tools.

• Manage development workflows and CI/CD pipelines using Git and GitHub.

Requirements

ABOUT YOU

• Strong experience as a full-stack or generalist software developer with a track record of building and shipping diverse applications (web, desktop, or CLI).

• Experience building developer tools, internal management software, or specialized utility applications.

• Comfortable working across the stack: experience with modern web frameworks (frontend/backend) and native technologies (e.g., C++/Rust/Python/Electron) for system-level tools.

• Strong proficiency with Linux distributions, networking concepts, and server management.

• Expertise in version control workflows using Git and GitHub.

• A "product mindset" for internal tools: you view the internal team as your customer and are passionate about building tools that make everyone else’s job easier and faster.

• Genuine passion for HIGHCAT's mission.

What You Can Expect

Compensation and Ownership

• Competitive compensation package with meaningful equity reflecting the strategic importance of this role

Mission and Impact

• Your tools empower our teams to develop and deploy systems used by firefighters, soldiers, and emergency responders in high-stakes environments

• Direct visibility into how your software decisions affect real-world outcomes

Culture and Environment

• High-trust, low-bureaucracy culture where ownership is real and decisions move fast

• Work alongside founder Jan Hartmann and our Head of Software, who prioritize mission success over politics

Professional Growth

• Rare opportunity to work across the full stack, including hardware integration, infrastructure, and toolchain development.

• Foundation-building experience at a company where your technical range will shape the engineering culture for years to come

Your Application

We require all candidates for this role to submit a portfolio showcasing previous hands-on work. This should include a curated collection of past projects, physical prototypes, custom modifications, or relevant personal hobbies.

Presentation quality is less important than technical depth; we welcome a raw assembly of videos, photos, or GitHub repositories. We are treating this technical evaluation with the same portfolio-centric focus typically reserved for high-level creative leadership roles.

About HIGHCAT

HIGHCAT builds technology that protects those who protect us. We develop advanced systems for firefighters, military units, emergency responders, and critical infrastructure teams, delivering tools that enhance situational awareness, improve decision-making, and save lives in high-stakes environments. Our customers operate in conditions where technology failure means mission failure, and mission failure can mean loss of life. We take that responsibility seriously.

We're backed by leading venture capital and strategic partners who understand that defense, public safety, and critical infrastructure represent not just massive markets, but moral imperatives. Our team combines deep technical expertise with operational experience in the domains we serve. We're building at scale while staying primarily focused on the people who depend most on our technology. If you believe that technology should serve those who serve, and that operational excellence is how mission-driven companies turn vision into reality, HIGHCAT is where you belong.