We are looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer with 5-7 years of experience to embed directly with U.S. military and government customers and own the technical success of our command and control (C2) systems in live operational environments. You will be equal parts software engineer and field operator: writing production code, debugging distributed systems under pressure, and deploying software in high-stakes contexts most engineers never touch.
What you will be doing:
Deploying and integrating C2 software on-site with military operators across domestic and international locations (50-75% travel to coastal/water-adjacent sites).
Break-fix troubleshooting and rapid code development in the field, gathering requirements directly from uniformed operators and shipping solutions same-day.
Working hand-in-hand with drone operators, potentially flying assets in the air, water, or on land during live missions.
Feeding hard-won field insights back to the core engineering team to improve the product.
Operating autonomously in ambiguous, resource-constrained environments: sometimes hooking up hardware, sometimes cranking out code, sometimes doing technician work.
This is a full-time, US-based remote role with 50%+ domestic and international travel. Location focus: San Francisco, CA. Tech stack includes Golang, React, Python, C/C++, Java, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD.
We are an early-stage defense technology startup building autonomous aircraft systems and command-and-control software so human operators can coordinate heterogeneous assets at scale. The team combines deep aerospace and software experience and moves quickly with military and government customers.
- 5-7 years of experience in full-stack software engineering and/or forward-deployed engineering role
- Senior archetype: prior FDE lead or senior forward deployed role; mentor junior FDE and own customer relationships independently
- Strong full-stack engineering experience; proficient in Golang and React
- Strong system design and architecture ability
- BS in Computer Science, Math, Econ, or related technical field
- High agency; operates effectively in ambiguous environments
- Willing to travel 50%+ domestically and internationally
- Eligible to obtain U.S. Secret security clearance
- Not open to visa sponsorship (U.S. citizen or Green Card holders)
- Nice to have: prior defense, intelligence community, or aerospace software experience
- Competitive equity