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Usul is a Silicon Valley AI lab focused on helping America and its allies acquire technology at speed. The company was founded by Stanford dropouts, MIT AI scientists, and Tier-1 Special Forces operators, and has already won US Defense contracts—the youngest founders to do so. Over the past year, Usul has helped Global 500 companies including RTX, BAE Systems, and Palantir, as well as Ukrainian drone manufacturers, win $12B in contracts across 30 NATO nations.
As a Technical Staff: Forward Deployed Engineer, you will work in operational environments designing data systems and workflows that government operators will use daily to acquire technology at speed. You'll be embedded with end users—both government operators and commercial defense contractors—to understand their needs and iterate on solutions. You'll also contribute to Usul's commercial platform, helping Fortune 500 defense companies and frontier startups win government contracts across allied nations.
This role combines full-stack engineering with direct customer engagement. You'll present technical solutions to operators and C-suite executives, travel to customer sites including military bases, and work on mission-critical national security problems. The work involves building AI agents, leveraging large language models, and creating intuitive user interfaces with modern web technologies.
Usul values scrappy, mission-driven engineers who are frustrated with the status quo and want to rebuild critical infrastructure. You'll work alongside founding engineers and the CTO in a fast-moving, high-impact environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 2–5 years of software engineering experience, full-time, full-stack
- Proficiency building AI agents and utilizing LLMs effectively
- Confidence presenting technical solutions to operators and C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies
- Willingness to travel to customer sites at military bases
- Passion for solving mission-critical national security problems
- Strong UI development skills with React
- Scrappy, mission-driven mindset; frustration with current system inefficiencies
- Elite communication skills
BONUS QUALIFICATIONS:
- TS/SCI or Secret Clearance
- Prior experience on government projects
- Familiarity with React, Next.js, TypeScript
