Forward Deployed Engineer, Operations & Sustainment

About the role

This role operates at the intersection of field deployment and product sustainment for Shield AI defense-tech systems. Success depends on operating under field pressure while converting lessons into durable support artifacts.

Software engineers turn product ideas into working code. Engineers work in small teams, review each other's work, and ship in small batches. Most teams follow agile practices such as sprints and daily standups. Engineers also write tests, fix bugs, and improve performance. The field values clear communication as much as technical skill. Engineers spend part of every week on planning, code review, and debugging, not just writing new code. The ability to explain a technical decision in plain words separates strong engineers from the rest.

Key facts

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

5+ years of experience in field engineering, forward-deployed engineering, applications engineering, systems integration, flight test, robotics support, unmanned systems operations, technical operations, customer deployment, or a similar hands-on technical role.

Strong technical background in software engineering, systems integration, or autonomy-adjacent systems with proficiency writing, reading, and debugging modern C++ code.

Working proficiency with Python, Bash, or similar scripting for diagnostics, automation, data handling, and field support workflows on Linux or embedded systems.

Strong troubleshooting skills across networking, configuration management, logs, telemetry, release packages, sensors or payloads, and operator workflows in time-pressured settings.

Ability to write clear field notes, deployment records, troubleshooting guides, evidence packages, and support updates that engineering and support teams can act on with clarity.

Willingness and ability to travel at least 50% of the time, including frequent domestic and international travel and multi-week deployments to operational environments.

Ability to operate professionally in lab, flight-test, range, customer-site, and field environments while complying with export-control, security, safety, sensitive-data, customer-site, and mission-specific operating requirements.

Nice to have

Experience with autonomy, robotics, defense aviation, unmanned aircraft, deployed defense systems, flight test, payload integration, sensors, operator systems, or edge compute environments.

Experience supporting defense, government, allied, or international customers in operational, test, training, or overseas environments.

Experience building or scaling a support, field-service, customer-success, sustainment, or applications-engineering function during an early product rollout.

Experience with enterprise software deployment, customer support, licensing, provisioning, release management, configuration baselines, or offline/air-gapped operating environments.

Hands-on experience with recorded-data analysis, diagnostic tooling, telemetry review, networking tools, system health checks, or support automation.

FAA Part 107, military aviation or maintenance background, UAS operator experience, flight-test experience, systems engineering experience, or prior Field Service Representative experience.

Experience using GenAI tools to accelerate troubleshooting, documentation, knowledge capture, data review, or support workflow automation.

Active or prior security clearance, or eligibility to obtain one when required by program or customer need.

Practical notes

This is a travel-intensive role with a minimum 50% travel expectation, including frequent domestic and international trips and multi-week deployments. Good to know

The role focuses on deploying and sustaining intelligent systems in real-world conditions. Success requires strong technical judgment, clear communication with non-technical stakeholders, and disciplined documentation. The position interfaces directly with customers and cross-functional internal teams to resolve issues and improve long-term support processes. Tools include modern software development and diagnostic tooling for autonomous systems. The role demands adaptability to varied operating environments and strict compliance with export-control and safety requirements.