Lead Forward Deployed Engineer

About the role

Lead Forward Deployed Engineer

Defense Supply Chain Risk Programs

Exiger is seeking a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to provide expert guidance and organize the delivery of solutions and scale delivery of advanced analytics and AI-enabled capabilities supporting Army sustainment and supply chain risk management programs. This role drives the end-to-end execution of data-driven solutions-including AI/LLMs, data pipelines, and risk models-that enhance visibility, resilience, and readiness across the defense industrial base. The successful candidate will operate at the intersection of program leadership, data engineering, and sustainment operations, collaborating closely with engineers, data scientists, and Army stakeholders to translate mission requirements into scalable, technically sound analytics workflows that directly inform risk mitigation and acquisition decisions across Army portfolios.

Location and Engagement

This position is based in Huntsville, Alabama, operating in a hybrid arrangement. The role is full-time. The compensation range for this position is $129,600.00 to $181,400.00 per year, as of 2025.

Key Responsibilities

The Lead Forward Deployed Engineer will own the full lifecycle for defense supply chain analytics, turning Army requirements into working systems while ensuring traceability and compliance at every stage. Key responsibilities include leading and managing a team of engineers developing analytics and AI-driven solutions in support of Army sustainment, acquisition, and supply chain risk management missions. The role involves directing the development and deployment of databases, data pipelines, risk models, mitigation strategies, and analytic workflows to identify and mitigate systemic supply chain vulnerabilities.

The engineer will drive program execution by defining technical methodologies, prioritizing development milestones, and managing the delivery of mission-ready analytical capabilities. This includes translating complex sustainment and acquisition requirements into actionable tasks for engineering and data science teams. Additional responsibilities encompass overseeing QA/QC for data and model outputs, ensuring results are technically valid, reproducible, and operationally relevant to Army decision-makers. The position requires providing technical oversight of analytics integration into sustainment workflows, ensuring strict compliance with Army policy and information assurance standards. Collaboration with cross-functional teams-including engineers, product research analysts, and industrial base experts-is essential to deliver measurable mission impact. The role also involves facilitating coordination between technical teams, program leadership, and Army stakeholders to ensure program transparency, accountability, and timely reporting.

Qualifications

Required

Candidates must bring 10 plus years of experience in front-end, back-end, or full-stack software development, with a focus on leading data analytics, AI/ML, or risk management programs for federal or defense customers. A proven record of managing AI- and data-driven programs that support defense sustainment, logistics, or acquisition missions is required.

Technical skills include intermediate to advanced proficiency in Python, with hands-on experience in data manipulation, validation, and analytics using libraries such as pandas and NumPy. Strong SQL skills are necessary, including the ability to write and optimize queries for large, complex datasets. Active experience with Snowflake for querying, data validation, and analytics is strongly preferred. Candidates must demonstrate familiarity with data pipelines, ETL processes, and workflow orchestration in support of large-scale analytics environments. The ability to bridge technical development and mission objectives is essential, ensuring solutions are both feasible and impactful.

What You'll Do

In this role, you will design end-to-end data pipelines that feed risk models for Army programs. You will organize the intake of sustainment requirements and translate them into technical tasks. The position involves building Snowflake queries and validation checks that keep analytics accurate and reliable. You will refine data workflows so analysts can trace how outputs support acquisition decisions. You will shape review criteria with data scientists to ensure model results remain reproducible. Coordination of QA practices aligned with information assurance standards for defense is a core duty. You will also forge partnerships with industrial base experts to surface hidden supply chain risks and deploy analytics into sustainment workflows while keeping program leadership fully informed.

Requirements

To qualify, you must have 10 plus years of experience leading software delivery for federal or defense analytics initiatives. You must have managed AI-driven programs that touch logistics, sustainment, or acquisition missions. Proficiency in Python for data manipulation, relying on pandas and NumPy in daily work, is required. The ability to write optimized SQL against large complex datasets without guidance is essential. Active use of Snowflake for querying and data validation in analytical contexts is required. Understanding of data pipelines and workflow orchestration at scale is mandatory. You must be able to connect technical implementation details to mission-level objectives clearly.

Nice to Have

Experience working alongside Army stakeholders and program leadership in regulated environments is preferred.

Skills & Tools

Core skills include Snowflake, Python, SQL, pandas, and NumPy.