Forward Deployed Engineer

Nxt Level; New York (NY); On-site; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Nxt Level is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to join at the intersection of engineering, product, customer deployment, and mission operations.

This is not a traditional role; you are a core engineer who thrives directly with customers in high-pressure environments, shipping production code and deploying it into secure environments with end-to-end ownership.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering fundamentals and ability to ship production code.
• Experience building, deploying, or operating systems in complex customer environments.
• Ability to work directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders in high-pressure settings.
• Comfort operating independently with limited direction.
• Strong problem-solving skills in ambiguous environments.
• Ability to build quick prototypes and durable production systems.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to earn trust with mission-focused users.
• Interest in agentic AI, defense technology, national security, intelligence, law enforcement, or mission-driven software.
• Willingness to work in secure or sensitive environments and travel as needed.

Responsibilities

• Write production code and extend platform features.
• Deploy and operate agentic AI systems in government environments.
• Own deployments from scoping to live operation.
• Serve as the primary technical interface for mission owners and operators.
• Learn customer workflows and mission needs quickly.
• Build rapid prototypes and field-expedient solutions.
• Translate field feedback into product and engineering improvements.
• Operate independently at customer sites with minimal oversight.
• Stand up and maintain field infrastructure across varied hardware and networking environments.
• Conduct live demonstrations for senior stakeholders.
• Own outcomes in high-stakes environments.

Skills

Production code

Customer environments

Stakeholder communication

Independent work

Problem solving

Prototyping

Trust with mission users

Agentic AI interest

Willingness to travel

Job description

About Our Client

Work Style: Customer-facing / Field-based

Employment Type: Full-time

Focus: Agentic AI, National Security, Defense Technology, Field Engineering, Production Software

Our client is building AI technology for the people and organizations responsible for protecting the country.

Their platform is deployed into high-consequence environments across the U.S. national security community, including intelligence, defense, and law enforcement. The work is mission-critical, the environments are complex, and the stakes are real.

This is an opportunity to join a team building agentic AI systems for operators who need reliable, secure, and effective technology in the field.

About the Role

Our client is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to sit at the intersection of engineering, product, customer deployment, and mission operations.

This is not a traditional implementation, support, or solutions engineering role. This person is a core engineer who also thrives directly with customers in high-pressure environments.

You’ll contribute production code to the core platform, extend agent capabilities, deploy systems into sensitive government and defense environments, and own the full technical arc from scoping and integration through live operation and customer trust.

The right candidate is comfortable shipping code during the week and deploying it into a secure customer environment by the end of the week.

What You’ll Do

• Contribute directly to the core platform by writing production code, building features, and extending agent capabilities
• Deploy and operate agentic AI systems in sensitive government, defense, intelligence, and law enforcement environments
• Own technical deployments from scoping and integration through live operation
• Serve as the primary technical interface for mission owners, operators, and senior stakeholders
• Learn customer workflows, constraints, language, and mission needs quickly
• Build rapid prototypes, custom integrations, and field-expedient solutions in hours, not long planning cycles
• Bring the best field-built solutions back into the core product
• Translate field requirements, edge cases, and operational feedback into clear product and engineering improvements
• Operate independently at customer sites with minimal oversight
• Stand up and maintain field infrastructure across heterogeneous hardware and networking environments
• Conduct live demonstrations for senior government and military stakeholders
• Own the outcome when the margin for error is thin

What We’re Looking For

• Strong software engineering fundamentals with the ability to ship production code
• Experience building, deploying, or operating systems in complex customer environments
• Ability to work directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders in high-pressure settings
• Comfort operating independently with limited direction
• Strong problem-solving skills in ambiguous environments
• Ability to build quick prototypes and durable production systems
• Strong communication skills and the ability to earn trust with mission-focused users
• High ownership, strong judgment, and a bias toward action
• Interest in agentic AI, defense technology, national security, intelligence, law enforcement, or mission-driven software
• Willingness to work in secure or sensitive environments and travel as needed

Bonus Experience

• Experience with government, defense, intelligence, law enforcement, or national security customers
• Experience deploying software into secure environments, including SCIFs or similarly restricted settings
• Experience with agentic AI systems, LLMs, tool use, RAG, workflow automation, or mission software
• Experience with field engineering, forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or customer-facing technical deployments
• Experience standing up infrastructure across varied hardware, networking, or air-gapped environments
• Experience building production software in high-stakes or regulated environments
• Active or prior security clearance

Why This Opportunity

• Build AI systems for mission-critical national security use cases
• Work directly with the people using the technology in the field
• Contribute to the core product while owning real-world deployments
• Operate in environments where speed, judgment, reliability, and trust matter
• Build rapid solutions at the edge and turn them into lasting product improvements
• Join a team where forward deployed engineers are core engineers, not post-sales support
• Step into a role with high ownership, technical depth, and direct mission impact

Location: US-based in on of the following cities: