Field Deployment Strategist — Federal Programs Lead

Istari Digital; Dayton (OH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Istari Digital is seeking a Deployment Strategist to own customer program outcomes, embedding with forward deployed engineers on flagship programs. You’ll decide what matters, shape demonstrations, and govern deployments that customers cannot operate without.

You’ll serve as Program Manager on major federal programs and own contract commitments. We value judgment, domain fluency in aerospace/defense, and the ability to brief executives and engineers alike.

Qualifications

• We hire for judgment, curiosity, and a bias toward action more than for a specific degree or years of experience.
• Domain: air platform development and the lifecycle behind it—research-to-transition for aerospace systems.
• Technical conversancy across modeling and simulation, MBSE, digital threads, software development, and/or agentic design.
• Product sense: know what to build next and what not to build, prioritizing platform value.
• The range to brief a program executive in the morning and pair with an engineer in the afternoon.
• Reading rooms and organizational dynamics to win adoption within a customer’s org chart.
• Comfort operating with incomplete information and shifting requirements; define next steps without being told.

Responsibilities

• Own the outcome of a program end to end: define success, choose problems worth solving, and set milestones.
• Embed with government and industry customers to understand constraints and build durable relationships.
• Serve as named Program Manager on major federal programs: manage narratives, FI, and contract commitments.
• Set direction for a small Forward Deployed Engineering team and shield their time from non-work tasks.
• Own the growth thesis: option years, follow-ons, expansions tied to delivered outcomes.
• Feed field learnings back into product and engineering to improve the platform for all customers.
• Work day-to-day at or travel to customer sites, test events, and milestones as needed (domestic).

Skills

Judgment

Curiosity

Bias toward action

Air platform domain fluency

Modeling & Simulation

MBSE

Digital threads

Software development

Agentic design

Executive briefing

Stakeholder management

Adaptability

Job description

Istari Digital is seeking a Deployment Strategist to own customer program outcomes, embedding with forward deployed engineers on flagship programs. You’ll decide what matters, shape demonstrations, and govern deployments that customers cannot operate without.

You’ll serve as Program Manager on major federal programs and own contract commitments. We value judgment, domain fluency in aerospace/defense, and the ability to brief executives and engineers alike.