Forward Deployed Engineer

Istari Digital•Dayton, OH

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Istari's software is deployed into complex engineering environments within the aerospace and defense sectors. As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will be embedded within customer organizations, acting as part of their team while maintaining a connection to Istari's product and engineering core. This is a hands-on role focused on building, architecting integrations, and solving complex problems at the intersection of digital engineering workflows and mission-critical operations. The role requires strong software engineering skills and adaptability in unstructured environments, with challenges including connecting CAD, CFD, and FEM pipelines to Istari's platform, enabling cross-discipline collaboration, and ensuring customers effectively utilize their invested tools. You will work alongside Istari Program Managers, who handle program context and stakeholder relationships, while you focus on technical execution. The goal is to enhance Istari's product through field experience, not just customer satisfaction.

Requirements

Strong software engineering fundamentals; ability to write production-quality code and defend architectural decisions.
Hands-on experience with digital engineering toolchains: CAD, CFD, FEM, or related simulation and modeling environments.
Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments without extensive guidance.
Ability to work on-site with customers in a U.S. defense or aerospace context.
Clearance eligibility required; active clearance is a strong plus.
U.S. citizenship required.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating engineering software into larger data or workflow platforms.
Background in aerospace, defense, or other systems-engineering-heavy industries.
Exposure to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) or digital thread / digital twin concepts.
Exposure to or direct experience with advanced CAD, CFD, or FEM tools.

Responsibilities

Embed with customer engineering teams to understand their workflows, data environments, and technical constraints.
Architect and build software solutions that integrate Istari's platform into existing digital engineering ecosystems (CAD, CFD, FEM, simulation pipelines, and related toolchains).
Serve as the primary technical interface for the customer, proactively identifying opportunities for Istari's software to drive more value.
Develop, test, and maintain integrations and workflow solutions following modern software engineering practices.
Write clean, maintainable code that can be productized or reused across customer deployments.
Contribute to internal tooling and documentation to scale knowledge across the team.
Translate field experience into actionable product insights.
Participate in internal engineering reviews, architecture discussions, and roadmap planning.
Help develop proposals and technical approaches for new customer opportunities.