[All remote jobs](https://jobicy.com/jobs.md)[![Defense Unicorns logo](https://jobicy.com/data/server-nyc0409/galaxy/mercury/2025/06/44a44784-221-1.png)](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md)[Defense Unicorns](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md) # Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) C-UAS AI Summary Forward Deployed Engineer будет внедрять, защищать и эксплуатировать модульную платформу C-UAS в средах Министерства обороны США. Роль объединяет инженерную работу с Kubernetes, lakehouse-платформами, Kafka, инфраструктурой данных и интеграцией тактических систем в изолированных средах. Специалист отвечает за полный жизненный цикл внедрений: от интеграции и защищённого перемещения данных до мониторинга, восстановления, аккредитационной документации и передачи знаний заказчику. Большая часть работы удалённая, но требуется готовность к выездам для интеграций, инцидентов и работы в SCIF. Для позиции обязательны гражданство США и действующий допуск TS/SCI.[Apply for this job](#job-application)[View company](https://jobicy.com/company/defense-unicorns.md)ShareRemote from[USA](https://jobicy.com/job-region/usa.md)SalaryUSD 148,750–201,250 / yrDepartment[Software Engineering](https://jobicy.com/categories/engineering.md)EmploymentFull TimeExperienceSeniorPublished6 Nov 2026Apply before6 Dec 2026Listing views61Application actions2Application toolkit ## Make your next move. Prepare your resume, explore your fit, and draft a cover letter for this opportunity. Opportunity details ## About this role. EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION REQUIRES U.S. CITIZENSHIP. ### Role Description This is a forward-deployed engineering role. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with mission heroes- the users, operators, and program engineers who run real workloads in real DoD environments- and lead the software integration of modular Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) sensors and effectors. You will deploy, harden, integrate, and operate our modular C-UAS solution. Forward-deployed means aligned with the mission hero, not always on a plane. Most of the work is remote. You’ll travel to sites when the engagement genuinely calls for it — initial standup, in-SCIF integration work, on-the-ground incident response, training, and knowledge transfer- and you’ll be on a video call or in a shared chat with that same mission hero the rest of the time. The job is being their engineer, not living at their desk. You are a cross-functional engineering leader. You can take responsibility for the full breadth of a data and software integration platform- make it work where it has to work, analyze what’s running through it, and solve problems in real time for the mission hero. About 20% of your time, you’ll also help make Defense Unicorns’ forward-deployed team better — pairing with junior Data Engineer FDEs on hard problems, helping them develop technical judgment, and raising the ceiling on what the team can take on. ### Responsibilities * Deploy and harden UDS Data Capability in the mission hero’s environment — stand up UDS Store (Iceberg, Rook/Ceph, pgvector, Postgres), wire up UDS Transit for air-gap data movement, configure UDS Govern policies (Pepr/Lula), and integrate UDS Connect (Strimzi/Kafka) where streaming or legacy connectors are required. * Own integration with existing mission systems — connect UDS Data Capability to existing infrastructure, including sensor arrays, computer-vision-enabled UAS interceptors, and a broad range of C-UAS solutions. * Build pipelines that move data through classification boundaries — ingestion, transformation, catalog registration, model/dataset packaging via Zarf, cross-domain transit, and eventual consistency across DDIL conditions. * Operate what you deploy — own initial day-2 operations, including capacity, performance, backup/restore (Velero), observability (Vector/Loki), incident response, and upgrade paths. Transition ownership to the mission hero’s operations team once stable. * Generate accreditation artifacts — STIG evidence, cATO documentation, FIPS validation notes, and policy mappings to support ISSM/ISSO requirements in IL4/IL5 environments. * Represent the mission hero to product and engineering — document issues, write postmortems, recommend operator improvements, and communicate field challenges to the platform engineering team. * Train and transfer knowledge — develop runbooks, architecture documentation, working sessions, and knowledge-transfer materials that enable mission teams to operate independently. * Mentor junior Data Engineer FDEs — pair on complex problems, review integration designs, and help engineers develop technical judgment without direct people-management responsibilities. ### Clearance & Travel * Clearance: Active TS/SCI required. * Travel: Approximately 10%–25%, based on mission and customer requirements. * On-site expectations: Ability to work in SCIFs and other restricted environments for days or weeks when required for integration, incident response, training, or knowledge transfer. Most work is performed remotely. ### Required Qualifications * Experience working in tactical edge and interoperable mission environments, including TAK Server administration, ATAK/WinTAK, tactical communications, and disconnected or air-gapped systems. * Production experience with modern data platforms, including lakehouse technologies (Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, or Hudi), object storage (Ceph or S3-compatible), PostgreSQL, and analytical query engines such as Trino, DuckDB, ClickHouse, or Spark SQL. * Experience with streaming and data integration technologies, including Kafka or equivalent messaging platforms, stream processing, change data capture (CDC), and integration of legacy systems into modern data pipelines. * Hands-on experience building, scheduling, monitoring, troubleshooting, and recovering production data pipelines using Airflow, Dagster, Argo Workflows, or comparable orchestration tools. * Working knowledge of data governance, cataloging, access control, and auditability, including REST catalogs, ABAC/RBAC, OIDC/OAuth, and data lineage. * Strong SQL proficiency and experience designing data models and schemas for analytical and operational workloads. * Hands-on production Kubernetes experience, including deployments, operators, CRDs, storage classes, networking, and troubleshooting. * Strong Linux, containerization, networking, TLS, and secrets-management fundamentals. * Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi, or similar) and GitOps deployment practices. * Ability to troubleshoot complex software and data integrations across multiple systems in secure, disconnected, or mission-constrained environments. * Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with mission operators, program engineers, and technical and non-technical stakeholders. * Ability to work independently, adapt to changing mission requirements, and deliver practical solutions in environments where established documentation or processes may not exist. * Experience mentoring engineers through technical problem-solving, design reviews, and knowledge sharing. ### Preferred Qualifications * Direct experience administering TAK Server and supporting ATAK/WinTAK integrations in operational environments. * Experience with Link 16/TADL-J network operations and message-level analysis. * Familiarity with NIPR/SIPR environments, SATCOM, multi-band radios, and tactical communications interoperability. * Direct experience integrating C-UAS sensors, effectors, computer-vision-enabled interceptors, or other autonomous and unmanned systems. * Experience with Strimzi-managed Kafka on Kubernetes, Flink, Debezium, or similar streaming and CDC technologies. * Experience with PostgreSQL extensions such as pgvector and open-source catalog technologies including Iceberg REST, Polaris, Gravitino, or Nessie. * Familiarity with the CNCF ecosystem and open-source infrastructure technologies. * Experience deploying or supporting software in DoD IL4/IL5 environments, including STIG compliance, cATO processes, FIPS requirements, and accreditation documentation. * Experience with air-gapped software delivery, Zarf packaging, cross-domain data movement, or DDIL operating conditions. * Experience supporting operational DoD users through field integration, incident response, training, and knowledge transfer. The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive, and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise. Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States. Remote – USA $148,750—$201,250 USD ### Who We Are Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market. ### What We Do We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily. ### Who We Serve Defense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products. ### What We Work On * Kubernetes * Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure) * Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi) * Continuous Delivery and automation tooling * GitOps * Containers * CNCF projects and open source products and packages * Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping * Building and improving security delivery * Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications ### Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy ### Health: * Medical/Dental/Vision * Premiums are 100% Company Paid * Health Savings Account * Life Insurance * Disability Insurance ### Financial: * 401k Retirement Plan * Company Stock Options * Home Office Budget ### Leave: * We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s * Paid Parental Leave ### Learning: * Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions * Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees) Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t meet every requirement listed. At Defense Unicorns, we’re committed to diversity. If you’re enthusiastic about the role but don’t match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. [CCPA DISCLOSURE](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DzT00w2uadYw9TfdorHuEsvPccZvn_g4/view?usp=drive_link) Show more [Apply now >](https://jobicy.com/jobs/159254-forward-deployed-engineer-fde-c-uas.md) * ![Upload CV](data:image/svg+xml;base64,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) ### Upload your resume now To unlock remote work opportunities and be discovered by global employers. This job listing has been manually reviewed by the Jobicy Trust & Safety Team for compliance with our posting guidelines, including verification of the company's legitimacy, accuracy of job details, clarity of remote work policy, and absence of misleading or fraudulent content. ## Role DNA A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description. ### Job Complexity 5/5EasyHard ### Pace & Pressure 5/5RelaxedFast-paced ### Autonomy Level 5/5GuidedFull ownership ### Communication Load 5/5IndependentCollaborative AI insightЭто высокосложная роль на стыке data engineering, DevOps, кибербезопасности и оборонных тактических систем. Необходимо самостоятельно решать критические интеграционные задачи в изолированных и mission-constrained средах при прямом взаимодействии с операторами и инженерами заказчика. ## Salary analysis Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles. Estimated job median (per year)Market rate$175,000US market range (per year)$160k–$210k0$231.00k AI insightThe yearly pay period is inferred from the job context; it was not explicitly stated by the employer. Указан диапазон базовой компенсации $148,750–$201,250 USD. Период оплаты в вакансии прямо не назван; годовой формат выведен по размеру суммы, рынку США и формату full-time роли. Оценочный рыночный диапазон для senior/principal forward-deployed data and platform engineer с TS/SCI и опытом DoD составляет $160,000–$210,000 USD в год. ## Core skills Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity. [Kubernetes](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Kubernetes.md)[Apache Iceberg](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Apache%20Iceberg.md)[Kafka](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Kafka.md)[PostgreSQL](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=PostgreSQL.md)[Terraform](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Terraform.md)[GitOps](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=GitOps.md)[Data pipelines](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Data%20pipelines.md)[Linux administration](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Linux%20administration.md)[Air-gapped systems](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Air-gapped%20systems.md)[Data governance](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Data%20governance.md)[SQL](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=SQL.md)[Incident response](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=Incident%20response.md)[STIG compliance](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=STIG%20compliance.md)[TAK Server](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=TAK%20Server.md)[C-UAS integration](https://jobicy.com/jobs?search_keywords=C-UAS%20integration.md) Sample interview questionsHow would you deploy and operate a data platform in an air-gapped DoD environment?I would begin by mapping the security boundary, dependencies, available registries, and accreditation requirements. I would package signed and versioned artifacts for disconnected delivery, deploy through repeatable GitOps or infrastructure-as-code workflows, validate storage, identity, networking, and observability, then document recovery procedures and operational handoff criteria. Describe your approach to integrating legacy sensor systems with a modern Kafka-based data platform. I would first characterize protocols, schemas, latency needs, classification constraints, and failure modes. I would build or configure resilient connectors, define versioned event contracts, implement validation and dead-letter handling, and monitor throughput and consumer lag. I would test degraded connectivity and ensure the design supports replay, auditability, and safe eventual consistency. What would you include in an incident response plan for a mission-critical Kubernetes deployment? The plan should define service ownership, alert thresholds, escalation paths, access procedures, backup and restore steps, and communications templates. I would instrument cluster, application, storage, and pipeline health, rehearse failure scenarios, preserve forensic logs, and produce postmortems with prioritized corrective actions after incidents. How do you balance field-user needs with platform engineering standards? I gather concrete operator workflows and constraints, translate them into reproducible technical requirements, and communicate trade-offs early. I favor secure, maintainable patterns over one-off fixes, while delivering pragmatic interim solutions when mission urgency requires them. Feedback from deployments should become documented product improvements and reusable platform capabilities. How would you mentor junior forward-deployed engineers without direct people-management authority? I would pair with them on complex integrations, ask them to explain their troubleshooting hypotheses, and provide structured feedback on design choices and communication. I would share runbooks and decision frameworks, review their implementation plans, and progressively give them ownership while remaining available for escalation and post-incident learning. Next step ## Apply now. Follow the employer’s application method and review Jobicy’s safety guidance before sharing personal information. Keep exploring ## Related remote jobs. * ![Alimentiv logo](https://jobicy.com/data/server-nyc0409/galaxy/mercury/2025/06/d11f5845-221.png) Alimentiv Nov 6 New ### [GCP – Computer System Validation Specialist (12 month limited-term)](https://jobicy.com/jobs/159260-gcp-computer-system-validation-specialist-12-month-limited-term.md) Alimentiv is a global CRO with a singular focus: advancing therapies for patients with gastrointestinal diseases. 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