The Forward Deployed Software Engineer, Tactical Edge role is a customer-facing engineering position embedded on small teams, typically a mix of a few engineers and non-technical folks, functioning like a startup for a specific customer. The team's job is to look across the full product suite and figure out which subset of technologies needs to be deployed to make that customer successful.
More specifically, this technology is deployed onto small, on-prem form factors, as compact as a single server blade, sometimes a few. That introduces significant nuance: how to fit the software within tight resource constraints, how to dynamically allocate resources based on customer workflow priorities, and how to deploy, monitor, and support systems as they move around the world with forward-deployed units, especially without hands-on access. This role demands extreme breadth, high independence, and grit to navigate the technical and operational complexity of tactical edge environments.
You will work directly with customers to deploy Kubernetes-based products in tactical edge environments (air-gapped, on-prem, edge devices). You will provide operational support at the tactical edge, including debugging network and systems issues, reviewing system monitors and alerts, managing system configuration, load balancing, container orchestration, and conducting upgrades. You will provide technical troubleshooting support to forward-deployed customers, ensuring timely resolution and minimal impact on operations, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on reliability, scalability, performance, and security, contributing to new operational features when necessary.
Core day-to-day work includes owning end-to-end execution of high-stakes projects, discussing technical architecture with technical and non-technical personnel, working in small teams with minimal supervision, and traveling to customer locations roughly 25% of the time (with flexibility up to higher travel depending on mission needs).
- Maintain active US Security Clearance (Secret or TS), or eligibility for Secret with potential for upgrade
- 2-5 years as a software engineer with hands-on hardware integration work
- Has physically integrated software into hardware systems: military vehicles, ships, labs, or similar on-prem/edge environments (not virtual-only)
- Hands-on experience with hardware in military or defense settings; software engineer with hardware experience, especially military systems integration
- Experience deploying and managing containerized applications with Kubernetes and Docker in hardware contexts
- Deep Linux systems experience: administration, networking, and on-prem infrastructure (CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
- Proficiency with programming languages such as Java, Python, Bash, JavaScript, Go, or similar
- Ability to integrate and communicate between software and hardware systems
- Experience at a defense contractor, system integrator, or defense tech company
- Exposure to enterprise data platforms or similar forward-deployed software platforms
- Familiarity with Kubernetes distributions (e.g. OpenShift, Rancher), Prometheus, and Grafana preferred
- Based in DC metro area or New York, or willing to relocate; can be in office multi days per week and travel 25-75% of time
- CS degree preferred
- Nice-to-have certifications: DOD 8570 IAT Level II or greater (CISSP, Sec+), Unix/Linux Computing Environment (e.g. Linux+, RHCE)