Senior Systems Integration Engineer, FDE

Ditto • Tampa, FL

13h • Onsite

About The Position

As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you are the technical tip of the spear. FDEs are elite, versatile engineers who work shoulder-to-shoulder with our most critical users to solve complex challenges in real time. Your primary mission is to radically decrease the time-to-value of our software by integrating it directly into the user's operational environment.
Because you see firsthand how our technology performs in the wild, you will also act as a crucial conduit, feeding technical insights and feature requirements back to our core product engineering team. This role requires a highly adaptable problem-solver who is comfortable moving fast, navigating ambiguity, and figuring things out quickly in high-stakes environments.

Requirements

• Clearance Requirement: Must hold an active Secret clearance (Due to federal security clearance requirements, U.S. Citizenship is strictly required for this role).
• 5+ years of experience in systems integration engineering, software engineering, or technical program execution. This includes hands-on experience integrating software with military C2 systems, sensor platforms, or tactical communications systems.
• 2+ years of technical experience with Cursor-on-Target (CoT) message formats and TAK ecosystem tools (TAK Server, ATAK, WinTAK), including standing up servers, configuring data feeds, and debugging message flows.
• Demonstrated experience with system design for complex, multi-vendor integration environments. You should be able to whiteboard a full data flow from a sensor to a display, identify integration seams, and propose solutions across protocol and format boundaries.
• A highly adaptable, problem-solving mindset, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, move fast, and balance immediate operational fixes with long-term technical fidelity.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal. As the crucial bridge between the operational edge and our core development team, you must be able to translate complex, edge-case technical realities and user workflows into clear, actionable requirements for product engineers.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with tactical datalink protocols beyond CoT, including Link 16, VMF, or JREAP, and an understanding of how these datalinks feed into the broader joint C2 picture.
• Familiarity with SOF-specific mission command systems and the unique integration requirements of SOCOM's distributed operational architecture.
• Experience with API design and middleware development for connecting heterogeneous military systems (e.g., ESBs, message brokers, protocol translation gateways).
• Prior experience with edge computing architectures, including deploying integration logic on resource-constrained hardware at the tactical edge.
• Previous experience working directly with SOCOM, JSOC, or Component Command customers, with an understanding of how operational workflows drive integration requirements.
• Familiarity with lightweight container orchestration (e.g., K3s, Docker Compose) for packaging and deploying integration services in austere environments.
• A background in software development (e.g., Python, Go, Java, or C++) with the ability to write custom parsers, adapters, and integration glue code.

Responsibilities

• Architect End-to-End System Integrations: Design and implement the full integration stack that connects our software to the SOCOM operational ecosystem, including TAK (Team Awareness Kit) servers, tactical datalinks, and mission command systems.
• Implement Cursor-on-Target (CoT) Pipelines: Build, deploy, and maintain robust CoT event ingestion and dissemination pipelines that enable real-time situational awareness across disparate systems and classification levels.
• Design Datalink and System Interfaces: Engineer software adapters and translation layers that bridge our platform with legacy and modern datalink protocols, ensuring bidirectional interoperability with the broader C2 architecture.
• Solve Problems in Real-Time: Act as the first line of technical defense at SOCOM sites, rapidly diagnosing and resolving integration failures, data flow interruptions, and system interoperability issues as they arise.
• Bridge the Gap: Translate the unique, edge-case operational realities you observe (e.g., non-standard TAK configurations, datalink format variations, multi-vendor system conflicts) into actionable technical requirements and system design proposals for the core product development team.

Benefits

• We offer competitive salaries and meaningful equity. We believe everyone on the team should have a stake in what we’re building. Benefits vary by region to make sure you're covered in the ways that matter most. In the US, that includes health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, plus a 401(k) and flexible spending accounts.
• Regardless of where you live, everyone at Ditto can utilize flexible time off. And while we work remotely, our Atlanta and San Francisco offices are open if you ever want a place to work or meet up with teammates.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees