Forward Deployed Engineer

SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

SR2 | Socially Responsible Recruitment | Certified B Corporation™ partners with an Andreessen Horowitz-backed autonomy company to build scalable autonomous systems for defence and industry. We're seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to bridge engineering and real-world deployment, working with customers, field teams and internal software engineers to ensure systems perform where it matters most.

You will develop production-grade software in C++, integrate robotic systems, and support field

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience developing production software for robotics or autonomous systems.
• Experience with ROS/ROS2 and Linux.
• Hands‑on robotics, systems integration or hardware validation experience.
• Comfortable debugging complex systems in the field.
• Excellent communication skills and confidence working directly with customers and cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop production-grade software in C++.
• Integrate and validate robotic systems in real-world environments.
• Support field testing, demonstrations and customer deployments (up to 50% travel).
• Troubleshoot hardware/software integration issues across deployed systems.
• Work with sensors including cameras, LiDAR, IMUs and other robotic hardware.
• Collaborate closely with autonomy, perception and software engineering teams to improve deployed products.
• Feed real-world operational feedback directly into product development.

Skills

ROS/ROS2

Linux

Robotics

Systems integration

Communication

Tools

ROS/ROS2

Linux

Job description

I'm partnered with an Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)-backed autonomy company building scalable autonomous systems for defence and industrial applications.

We're looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer to bridge engineering and real-world deployment, working directly with customers, field teams and internal software engineers to ensure autonomous systems perform where it matters most.

This isn't a pure autonomy or machine learning role. It's ideal for someone who enjoys getting robots working in the real world—integrating hardware, debugging systems, supporting deployments and solving complex engineering problems in the field.

What You'll Be Doing

• Develop production-grade software in C++
• Integrate and validate robotic systems in real-world environments
• Support field testing, demonstrations and customer deployments (up to 50% travel)
• Troubleshoot hardware/software integration issues across deployed systems
• Work with sensors including cameras, LiDAR, IMUs and other robotic hardware
• Collaborate closely with autonomy, perception and software engineering teams to improve deployed products
• Feed real-world operational feedback directly into product development

What We're Looking For

• 2+ years' experience developing production software for robotics or autonomous systems
• Experience with ROS/ROS2 and Linux
• Hands‑on robotics, systems integration or hardware validation experience
• Comfortable debugging complex systems in the field
• Excellent communication skills and confidence working directly with customers and cross-functional teams