Forward Deployed AI Engineer
Core
Senior technical partner embedding with defense and national security customers to own solutions from problem discovery through production deployment of agentic and generative AI capabilities.
Role type
Senior Forward Deployed AI Engineer (Backend & Delivery)
Builds
Backend systems, data pipelines, retrieval systems, and agentic/generative AI solutions on top of the Unified Defense Stack.
Domain
Defense & National Security / Generative AI & Backend Engineering
Deliverable
production ML models | product features | client delivery
Required skills
Backend engineering, Python, data pipelines, APIs, information retrieval systems, RAG patterns, government/defense environment deployment, technical communication
Preferred skills
Kubernetes in air-gapped environments, open-source LLMs/SLMs, LLM evaluation frameworks, document processing pipelines, active security clearance, prior customer-facing engineering experience
Technologies
Python, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Azure, Terraform, Pulumi, GitOps, Helm, Kustomize
Responsibilities
Embed with strategic customers as a technical partner owning the arc from problem discovery through solution delivery; Architect, build, and deploy backend systems powering generative AI capabilities; Deploy and operate systems in cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments; Scope and sequence delivery roadmaps and tradeoffs; Codify reusable patterns for mission environments; Serve as the technical face to customer leadership; Carry field insights back to product and engineering teams; Prototype and validate new capabilities.
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC with customer-facing delivery focus