Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Syracuse, NY)

Archangel Autonomy•Syracuse, NY

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Joining Archangel as a Forward Deployed Software Engineer, you will have an opportunity to bring state-of-the-art AI to the tactical edge. You will be adapting and deploying vision and language models for compute efficiency and local context, using tools from our existing codebase as well as state-of-the-art tools. This is not a traditional developer role, you will be working directly with the users and traveling to customer sites, building solutions rapidly sometimes on site under difficult conditions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Machine Learning, or equivalent experience.
Strong programming skills, particularly in Python; experience with Java or C++ is also valuable.
Experience developing in Linux environments.
Experience building solutions with LLMs, generative AI, RAG, embeddings, or other applied AI systems.
Strong foundation in machine learning, including evaluation, training, and problem decomposition.
Experience with Docker, networking, deployment scripts, and local model-serving tools.
Familiarity with PyTorch, Hugging Face, llama.cpp, Ollama, vLLM, or similar frameworks.
Familiarity with vector databases such as Milvus, FAISS, Qdrant, Chroma, or similar.
Experience building reliable systems with logging, watchdogs, crash recovery, automated testing, CI/CD, and field diagnostics.
Ability to quickly understand complex systems and established codebases.
Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work effectively across software, hardware, UI, and operational teams.
Clear written and verbal communication skills.
Comfortable owning features end-to-end in a small, fast-moving team.
Willingness to travel up to 30% to build, test, deploy, and troubleshoot systems in the field.
U.S. Person status.

Nice To Haves

Experience with NVIDIA platforms, CUDA, or TensorRT.
Android or Java development experience.
ATAK, TAK Server, TAKChat, CoT, or TAK plugin experience.
Experience with mesh networks, distributed communications, low-bandwidth systems, or disconnected environments.
Secure software development experience, including authentication, encryption, least privilege, audit logging, and secrets handling.
Rapid prototyping or 3D printing experience.
Hands-on experience with electrical or mechanical systems.
Knowledge of military systems, operational tactics, or tactical communications.

Responsibilities

Adapting and deploying vision and language models for compute efficiency and local context.
Using tools from our existing codebase as well as state-of-the-art tools.
Working directly with users.
Traveling to customer sites.
Building solutions rapidly sometimes on site under difficult conditions.
Troubleshooting remotely deployed software systems.