Staff Software Engineer, AI - Elite Squad Team

Ironclad is the leading AI contracting platform that transforms agreements into assets. Contracts move faster, insights surface instantly, and agents push work forward, all with you in control. Whether you’re buying or selling, Ironclad unifies the entire process on one intelligent platform, providing leaders with the visibility they need to stay one step ahead. That’s why the world’s most transformative organizations, from Rivian to the World Health Organization and the Associated Press, trust Ironclad to accelerate their business. We’re consistently recognized as a leader in the industry: a Leader in the Forrester Wave and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contract Lifecycle Management, a Fortune Great Place to Work, and one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Workplaces. Ironclad has also been named to Forbes’ AI 50 and Business Insider’s list of Companies to Bet Your Career On. We’re backed by leading investors including Accel, Y Combinator, Sequoia, BOND, and Franklin Templeton. For more information, visit www.ironcladapp.com http://www.ironcladapp.com or follow us on LinkedIn. ABOUT THE ROLE We are building a new elite Squad Team: a small, high-leverage engineering group focused on fast-moving, high-priority AI initiatives across Ironclad. This is not a traditional team tied to one surface area for years. Instead, the Squad Team is designed to move quickly across product and platform boundaries: incubating new AI capabilities, accelerating strategic bets, unblocking critical delivery gaps, and helping bring promising ideas from concept to production. As a Staff Software Engineer on the Squad Team, you will be one of the technical anchors for this effort, and report to VP Engineering of AI. You will work across multiple codebases (including starting new ones) and domains, partner closely with product and engineering leaders, and help us execute some of the company’s most important AI initiatives. You should be excited about ambiguity, energized by fast context switching, and motivated by building real products that deliver customer value quickly. This role is ideal for a high-agency builder who combines strong technical depth with product sense, urgency, and excellent judgment. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Lead the design and delivery of high-priority AI initiatives across Ironclad, from early prototype through production launch. - Rapidly ramp into new systems, codebases, and problem areas, and drive execution with minimal hand-holding. - Incubate new product ideas in areas such as contract AI, agentic workflows, intelligent extraction, search, and automation. - Partner closely with product, design, legal domain experts, and go-to-market teams to turn customer needs into shipped product. - Raise the engineering bar through strong technical judgment, crisp execution, and pragmatic use of AI-assisted development tools. - Identify organizational or technical bottlenecks and help close them, whether by building, debugging, simplifying, or unblocking teams. - Mentor other engineers through hands-on leadership, code reviews, technical direction, and example-setting. - Help shape how Ironclad builds with modern AI systems, including evals, orchestration, prompting, retrieval, and production quality standards. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP AND EXECUTION - Significant experience building and shipping production software in fast-paced environments. - A strong track record of leading ambiguous, cross-functional efforts and turning them into concrete outcomes. - High agency and ownership: you see gaps, form a point of view, and drive things forward. - Strong bias to action, with the ability to balance speed and quality. - Excellent collaboration skills and low ego; you work well by influence, not just authority. TECHNICAL STRENGTH - Strong software engineering fundamentals, especially in backend systems and distributed systems. - Ability to learn unfamiliar systems quickly and be productive in codebases you did not originally build. - Experience building AI-powered product features, platforms, or internal developer systems. - Familiarity with modern LLM application patterns such as agentic workflows, retrieval, evals, tool use, and quality/error analysis. - Comfort using AI coding tools to accelerate development, while maintaining engineering rigor and sound judgment. PRODUCT MINDSET - Strong product instinct and customer empathy. - You care not just about whether a system works, but whether it solves an important user problem. - Excitement about iterating quickly, learning from real usage, and improving product quality over time. WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERENT The Squad Team is meant to be a force multiplier for the organization. You won’t be limited to one narrow lane. You’ll help us: - incubate new AI product bets - accelerate critical initiatives - fill execution gaps where speed and technical depth matter most - bring strong engineering craftsmanship to the company’s most strategic work This role is a great fit for someone who…