Forward Deployed Software Engineer

Recruiting From Scratch•San Francisco, CA

3d•$175,000 - $220,000•Remote

About The Position

Our client is an early-stage defense technology company building advanced command-and-control software and autonomous systems for next-generation unmanned aircraft operations. Their mission is to enable scalable, real-world deployment of autonomous systems in high-stakes environments. Led by experienced founders with strong technical backgrounds, the company is rapidly gaining traction through government programs and is scaling to meet increasing demand. This is a unique opportunity to work on mission-critical systems that operate in real-world scenarios, bridging software and field deployment. This role is ideal for engineers who want to move beyond traditional software development and work directly in the field—solving real-world problems in high-impact, mission-critical environments.

Requirements

3+ years of software engineering experience
Strong proficiency in Golang, Python, or C/C++
Experience working with distributed systems and networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, etc.)
Background in customer-facing or deployment-oriented engineering roles
Ability to debug complex systems in real-world environments under pressure
Comfortable with high travel requirements and working in field environments
U.S. citizenship and eligibility for security clearance required

Nice To Haves

Experience in defense tech, aerospace, robotics, or autonomous systems
Prior experience working with military personnel or in field deployments
Background at defense-focused or high-performance engineering companies (e.g., Palantir, Anduril, etc.)
Familiarity with systems integration, monitoring, and reliability engineering
Strong problem-solving ability in ambiguous, high-pressure environments

Responsibilities

Serve as the technical bridge between engineering and real-world deployments in high-stakes environments
Travel up to 75% to field sites, working closely with operators and stakeholders during live deployments
Debug and resolve complex issues in distributed systems, including networking, performance, and system failures
Build deployment and integration tooling to improve system reliability and scalability
Write production code daily to solve integration challenges and improve system performance
Analyze logs, network traffic, and system behavior to diagnose and fix issues in real time
Collaborate with customers to understand requirements and translate them into technical solutions

Benefits

Competitive base salary: $175,000 – $220,000
Equity in a high-growth defense technology company
Opportunity to work on mission-critical systems with real-world impact
High ownership role with direct exposure to customers and deployments
Work alongside experienced founders and engineers in a rapidly scaling organization
Unique opportunity to see your code operate in live environments

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