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Onebrief builds AI-powered collaboration and workflow software for military planning and operational coordination. The company helps military teams coordinate information, people, and decisions across systems and locations, enabling them to test strategies, adapt to changing conditions, and make decisions with greater clarity in high-stakes environments.
As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will serve as the critical bridge between core software capabilities and real-world mission outcomes. You will deploy directly alongside military operators, command staffs, and partner systems in both unclassified and restricted/air-gapped environments during agile field sprints. This role sits at the intersection of Software Engineering, Product, Customer Mission, and Deployment—you will personally close technical gaps rather than simply identifying problems or routing requirements.
Key responsibilities include:
• Personally own mission outcomes by sitting directly with operational users during field embeddings to translate complex mission friction into technically executable software solutions. You will inspect schemas, write integration scripts, call REST APIs, analyze logs, and debug systems inside restricted customer environments.
• Bridge field execution and product strategy by identifying recurring field workarounds and collaborating directly with Product and Core Engineering teams to convert localized fixes into generalized, reusable platform capabilities.
• Integrate systems across Onebrief Core and Atom Engine with partner C2 systems, databases, and military data structures in complex network environments.
• Provide high-signal engineering leverage by conducting rigorous failure-domain isolation in the field. You will package escalations with reproduction steps, environmental states, logs, and root hypotheses to protect core development teams.
• Communicate and brief stakeholders, transitioning effortlessly between whiteboarding distributed software architecture with engineers and briefing senior military leaders or command staff on operational impact.
Onebrief is a distributed team of builders from military, operational, and technology backgrounds, founded in 2019 and backed by leading investors including General Catalyst, Battery Ventures, Insight Partners, Sapphire Ventures, and Human Capital. The company is valued at more than $2 billion and continues to invest in product innovation, AI capabilities, and team growth.
REQUIREMENTS:
• 3+ years of progressive software engineering, solutions engineering, or field software engineering experience involving hands-on development.
• Proficiency in standard programming languages (Python, C++, C#, TypeScript, Go, or similar) and hands-on experience with REST/gRPC APIs, relational databases, data modeling, JSON/XML schemas, microservices, and cloud/edge infrastructure.
• Proven ability to parse application logs, diagnose network or authentication failures across multiple systems, and isolate root causes. Prior experience in restricted/air-gapped environments is valuable but can be learned on the job.
• Exceptional ability to explain technical trade-offs, lead interactive working sessions with users, and handle operational urgency with non-technical stakeholders.
• Active Secret clearance required.
• Willingness to travel 25–50% of the time.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Prior experience as a Forward Deployed Engineer or Field Software Engineer at enterprise software or defense-tech companies (e.g., Palantir, Anduril, C3.ai, Scale AI).
• Direct experience building, deploying, or debugging software inside air-gapped DoD networks or classified environments.
• Experience with DoD software delivery, C2 systems, combatant command structures (COCOMs), operational planning workflows, or military data systems.
• Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility.
• Hands-on experience leveraging modern AI-assisted development tools to accelerate integrations, scripting, and data transformations.
