Job Specifications
About Us:
ISTARI is a strategic cybersecurity advisory company with a bold vision; to curate the defining cybersecurity ecosystem of our time, uniting enterprise, academia, government, and innovators to build collective resilience. At the heart of this mission, ISTARI helps clients achieve lasting organisational cyber resilience by convening and applying world-class talent, expertise, and innovation through a uniquely powerful network, with ISTARI as the central orchestrator.
The Opportunity:
We are seeking an entrepreneurial, AI-native developer to join ISTARI as a contract developer and help transform how we deliver our consulting work. You will be the founding technical resource responsible for building a suite of AI-powered internal tools that dramatically improve productivity across our Advisory practice.
This is not a traditional development role. You will be expected to leverage AI coding assistants (such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and similar tools) as force multipliers, enabling you to deliver at the speed and scope of a small team. You will work directly with partners and consultants to understand their pain points, translate business requirements into technical solutions, and rapidly iterate on tools that make a measurable impact.
If you thrive at the intersection of cutting-edge AI tooling and practical business problem-solving, and you want to shape how a fast-growing cybersecurity firm operates, this role is for you.
What You'll Do (Key Responsibilities)
You will hold accountability for delivering impact across four core pillars:
1. AI-Powered Tool Development
Rapid Prototyping: Design, build, and deploy internal tools that automate repetitive consulting tasks – from report generation to data analysis to client deliverable creation.
AI-Assisted Development: Use AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) as your primary development methodology, demonstrating best practices for AI-augmented software engineering.
Full Stack Ownership: Own the entire technical stack – from frontend interfaces to backend services to deployment infrastructure – as the sole developer.
2. Business Translation & Requirements
Stakeholder Engagement: Work directly with Partners, Principals, and Consultants to understand workflows, identify inefficiencies, and prioritize high-impact automation opportunities.
Requirements Definition: Translate ambiguous business needs into clear technical specifications. Ask the right questions, propose solutions, and iterate quickly based on feedback.
User-Centric Design: Build tools that consultants actually want to use – intuitive, reliable, and genuinely time-saving.
3. Technical Infrastructure
Architecture Decisions: Make pragmatic technology choices that balance speed of delivery with maintainability and security requirements appropriate for a cybersecurity firm.
Security-First Mindset: Ensure all tools meet ISTARI's security standards. We advise clients on cybersecurity – our internal tools must reflect that expertise.
Documentation & Handover: Maintain clear documentation so tools can be supported and extended as the team grows.
4. Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Stay Current: Keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI development landscape. Evaluate new tools, techniques, and models that could accelerate our capabilities.
Knowledge Sharing: Help upskill the broader team on AI tools and techniques. Demonstrate what's possible and help consultants incorporate AI into their own workflows.
Measure Impact: Track and communicate the productivity gains from tools you build, helping justify continued investment.
What You'll Bring (Candidate Profile)
Experience & Target Background
We are looking for developers who have embraced AI-assisted development as a core part of their workflow.
Target Backgrounds:
AI-Native Developers: Engineers who have integrated Claude Code, Cursor, or similar AI coding assistants into their daily workflow and can demonstrate significant productivity gains.
Full Stack Generalists: Developers comfortable across the stack – web frontends, APIs, databases, cloud infrastructure – who can ship complete solutions independently.
Startup/Scale-up Experience: Engineers who have worked in resource-constrained environments where they owned entire product areas and delivered quickly with minimal oversight.
Proven Delivery Track Record: Demonstrated ability to ship working software quickly. We value pragmatic delivery over perfect architecture.
Business Acumen: Experience working directly with non-technical stakeholders, gathering requirements, and translating them into technical solutions.
Core Competencies
AI Tool Fluency: Expert-level proficiency with AI coding assistants. Candidates should be prepared to pair-program using AI tools during the interview process and provide portfolio examples of work built with AI assistance.
Technical Breadth: Comfortable with modern web technologies (e.g. React, Node.js, Python, or equivalent), cloud
About the Company
ISTARI is a global cybersecurity firm dedicated to helping clients build cyber resilience. Established in 2020 by Temasek, ISTARI has a global presence in the United States, Europe, and Singapore.
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