Forward Deployed Engineer

Defense Tech AI Company • Remote (US)

Location

Remote — United States (20–30% travel)

Compensation

$180k–$250k base + $150k–$240k equity over 4 years

About the company

Our client is a unicorn-status defense technology company building AI for national security. Their platform analyzes large-scale text, multimedia, and geospatial data — including foreign media — for US intelligence customers such as the CIA, FBI, and DHS. They grew from $3M to $80M ARR in three years, have been profitable since 2021, and are valued at roughly $1.5B on $91.5M raised (including a $75M Series B) from General Catalyst, DFJ Growth, Point72, Felicis, and Shield Capital. Founded in 2019, around 180–200 people today, with a flat org where the CTO meets every engineering candidate.

The role

You'd join as a Forward Deployed Engineer — embedded alongside government and intelligence customers, deploying software inside their environments and owning projects end to end. This is zero-to-one product work in the field: you translate operator requirements into technical specs, stand up the software where it actually runs, and carry it through to adoption. The team is hiring 2–4 people against this role.

What you'll do

Deploy and integrate the platform inside government and DoD IT environments (RMF, IdAM, SIEM, cross-domain solutions)
Own projects end to end in a field-facing, customer-embedded context
Translate operator requirements into technical specs the engineering team can build against
Run pilots and POCs, supporting both pre-sales and post-sales work
Build full-stack — backend-leaning Python, with React on the front end
Travel 20–30% to customer and classified sites

What we're looking for

These are hard requirements. Check each one that applies to you.

Active US Top Secret (TS) clearance with SCI eligibility — or I'm clearance-eligible and willing to obtain one, with exceptional technical depth
US citizen — no visa sponsorship is available for this role
4+ years of full-stack engineering with strong backend fundamentals (can flex to 2–3 years for exceptional candidates from defense tech or big tech)
Python proficiency — assessed through a backend coding and algorithms interview
I've deployed software inside government or DoD IT environments (RMF, IdAM, SIEM, cross-domain solutions)
I've owned a project end to end in a field-facing or customer-embedded context
Based anywhere in the US and willing to travel 20–30%

Please note: every item above is a hard requirement for this role. Applications that don't meet all of them will be rejected. We recommend applying only if you check every box.

Don't check every box? No worries — submit your info here and we'll keep you in mind for roles that could be a better fit.

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Nice to have

Defense tech background (Palantir, Anduril, Shield AI, or similar)
Big tech experience (Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Google)
Strong communication skills — translating operator needs into technical specs
Experience with pilots, POCs, and both pre-sales and post-sales work
Full-stack comfort including React, though backend remains the main technical bar

Tech stack

Python, React, PostgreSQL, Redis, AWS S3, plus DoD RMF and government IT systems (IdAM, SIEM, cross-domain solutions).

Compensation & logistics

$180k–$250k base + $150k–$240k equity over 4 years
Fully remote within the United States
20–30% travel to customer and classified sites
Must be a US citizen — no visa sponsorship is available for this role
Active US Top Secret (TS) clearance with SCI eligibility preferred; clearance-eligible and willing candidates considered if technically exceptional
Full-time · hiring 2–4 for this role

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