Senior Forward-Deployed Solutions Engineer – URZA Deployments

NODA AI; Qatar; On-site; QAR 546,000 - 764,000; Full time

Job description

Location: Qatar (CENTCOM AOR) (Home office: Austin, TX)

Travel: Mission-dependent, up to ~75% (OCONUS rotations)

Clearance Requirement: Active Secret required

About NODA

NODA is a veteran-owned Series A defense technology company building the orchestration layer for autonomous unmanned systems. Our platform — URZA — coordinates fleets of heterogeneous vehicles across air, sea, and land for defense and intelligence customers. We expect every hire to be mission-driven with strong agency.

The Role

We are seeking a senior full-stack engineer to lead URZA deployment and customer-facing technical delivery across active customer programs. This req can land at either Senior Solution Engineer (L5) or Solution Architect (L6) depending on demonstrated depth — see leveling below.

You will own URZA deployments end-to-end at customer sites — primarily in DoW and military operating environments. You will lead engagements as the senior engineering presence on the ground, partner directly with Mission Leads and Field Operations, and represent NODA in customer technical reviews. Expect significant time on-site and significant time writing — runbooks, deployment guides, ConOps documents, after-action reports.

What you'll do

• Lead URZA deployments end-to-end at customer sites in DoW and military operating environments.
• Configure URZA for each customer's mission and ConOps.
• Integrate URZA with third-party C2 systems, sensors, software APIs, and external data sources (weather, reconnaissance, intelligence feeds).
• Run customer technical reviews and operator training; partner with Mission Leads on engagement coordination.
• Build reusable engagement scaffolding (runbooks, ConOps templates, integration playbooks); mentor mid-level Solution Engineers.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of full-stack engineering experience, with significant customer-facing or forward-deployed work.
• Strong proficiency in Python, C++, or Rust; advanced Linux fluency.
• Networking depth (TCP/IP, UDP, multicast, routing) and field debugging across multiple system layers.
• Demonstrated deployment experience in DoW, military, or comparable operational environments.
• U.S. citizenship; able to obtain a security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on with autonomous systems or unmanned vehicles (UAS, UGV, USV, UUV).
• Tactical C2 systems (TAK, Cursor-on-Target, Link 16) or pub-sub middleware (Zenoh, DDS).
• Experience integrating sensors, third-party APIs, or external data feeds (weather, reconnaissance, intelligence).
• Prior defense, autonomy, or robotics company experience; classified / ITAR / CMMC environment exposure.
• Active security clearance.

Leveling — Senior SE (L5) vs. Solution Architect (L6)

Senior Solution Engineer (L5): Owns URZA deployment for a single engagement. Leads on-site execution; partners with a more senior engineer on architecture decisions. Operates independently within an engagement; escalates cross-engagement trade-offs. Mentors mid-level SEs.

Solution Architect (L6): Owns URZA deployment architecture across multiple concurrent engagements. Defines integration patterns and ConOps templates that other SEs reuse. Holds customer technical authority where the customer expects an architect. Influences URZA roadmap and the integration layer directly through field learning.

Skills & Attributes

• Systems thinker across compute, network, vehicle behavior, and ConOps.
• Field-grounded; comfortable diagnosing in degraded conditions on a live exercise clock.
• Documentation-disciplined.
• Customer-credible; holds technical authority without overstating or underselling.
• Self-directed; thrives in ambiguity.

What We Offer

• Hybrid work environment
• Competitive base + equity
• Flexible time off and generous PTO
• Federal holidays
• 401(k)
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits
• Free One Medical membership

Growth Path at NODA

Senior Solution Engineer Solution Architect Principal Solution Architect. Lateral: Engineering Manager (Solutions Engineering), Product Manager, Mission Lead.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified individuals will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, age, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.