Junior Software Engineer
Location: In Person — Belleville, NJ
Job Type: Full-Time
Experience Level: Entry Level
Salary: $60,000 per year
About Fire Design AI
Fire Design AI automates the design of fire sprinkler and fire protection systems.
Our platform processes architectural CAD drawings, including DWG and DXF files, interprets floor plans, and uses artificial intelligence and computational geometry to automatically place sprinkler heads, lay out piping, and validate designs against NFPA fire codes.
Our goal is to transform a slow, manual engineering process into fast, accurate, and repeatable software.
Role Overview
We are looking for an entry-level Junior Software Engineer to join our growing development team.
This position is ideal for a recent graduate or early-career developer who wants to gain hands-on experience building real-world software across the full stack. You will contribute to our Next.js and React frontend, Python and FastAPI backend, and CAD-processing systems while working closely with experienced engineers, product team members, and company leadership.
You will receive guidance and feedback while gradually taking greater ownership of features as you become familiar with the platform and its technology.
Key Responsibilities
- Build, test, and improve features across the Fire Design AI web application and backend
- Work with the engineering team to translate product requirements into technical solutions
- Develop user-facing features using Next.js, React, and TypeScript
- Develop and maintain backend APIs using Python and FastAPI
- Write clean, maintainable, tested, and documented code
- Participate in code reviews and learn collaborative development best practices
- Troubleshoot and resolve bugs across the frontend and backend
- Work with PostgreSQL databases, REST APIs, and background processing systems
- Assist with the development of AI-powered fire protection design features
- Contribute to improvements in application performance, reliability, and monitoring
- Collaborate with engineers, product team members, and company leadership
- Learn about CAD file processing, computational geometry, and fire protection design workflows
Technical Scope of the Role
The technologies and systems you may work with include:
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- Python
- FastAPI
- Celery background workers
- PostgreSQL
- Supabase
- REST APIs
- Git and GitHub
- Sentry
- Clerk authentication
- DWG and DXF file processing
- Artificial intelligence and automation tools
- Computational geometry
Candidates are not expected to have professional experience with every technology listed above.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, information technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Understanding of software development fundamentals
- Experience with TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, or a similar programming language through employment, internships, coursework, or personal projects
- Familiarity with modern web development concepts
- Basic understanding of APIs and relational databases
- Familiarity with Git or another version-control system
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Willingness to learn new technologies and technical concepts
- Ability to communicate clearly and work collaboratively with a team
- Ability to work in person at our Belleville, New Jersey office
Preferred Qualifications
- Internship, freelance, academic, or personal project experience in software development
- Experience with React, Next.js, Python, or FastAPI
- Familiarity with SQL or PostgreSQL
- Experience building and deploying a web application
- Exposure to artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automation tools
- Familiarity with CAD drawings, geometry, engineering software, or construction technology
- Experience working with GitHub and collaborative development workflows
- Interest in working in a fast-paced startup environment
What We’re Looking For
We are looking for someone who:
- Is curious and eager to learn
- Enjoys solving technical problems
- Takes feedback well and applies it
- Communicates clearly and asks thoughtful questions
- Cares about writing reliable and maintainable code
- Is comfortable working in a collaborative, fast-moving environment
- Wants to grow into a well-rounded software engineer
- Is interested in building software that solves real-world engineering problems
What We Offer
- Annual salary of $60,000
- Hands-on experience building a production software platform
- Mentorship and professional development opportunities
- Exposure to frontend, backend, artificial intelligence, and CAD-processing technologies
- Opportunity to work on an AI-driven platform transforming the fire protection industry
- Collaborative and fast-moving startup environment
- Direct access to company leadership and product decision-making
- Opportunity to take on greater responsibility as your skills and experience grow
- Career growth into mid-level, senior, or technical leadership positions
Pay: $29.00 per hour
Work Location: In person
