Forward Deployed Engineer

Innodata Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Innodata Inc. is seeking a senior full-stack engineer to help build and operate a data platform used by enterprise and public-sector customers.

You will work on features end-to-end across a Rust backend and a TypeScript/React frontend, while engaging with customers to understand usage and requirements. The role emphasizes ownership, correctness, and strong engineering, with opportunities to join customer conversations, assist deployments, and grow into a more customer-facing position.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software development with production deployments.
• Customer-facing experience and ability to explain technical work to non-technical stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites and on-site engagements.

Responsibilities

• Build features end to end across Rust backend and TypeScript/React frontend.
• Design data models, APIs, and ingestion pipelines for scalable platforms.
• Deploy, configure, and support the platform in cloud and customer environments (AWS GovCloud, on-prem, air-gapped).
• Build data connectors and integrations to fit customer workflows.
• Join customer conversations, demos, and occasional on-site visits for feedback-driven product improvements.
• Contribute to architecture, code quality, performance, and security as the product grows.

Skills

5+ years of software development

Customer-facing experience

Strong communication

Travel willingness

Top Secret clearance (US)

Tools

Rust

TypeScript

React

PostgreSQL

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS GovCloud

Python

Job description

Innodata(Nasdaq: INOD) is a global data engineering company. We believe that data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are inextricably linked.Our mission is to enable the responsible advancement of artificial intelligence by providing the data, evaluation frameworks, and human expertise required to build AI systems that can be trusted at scale.We provide a range of transferable solutions, platforms, and services for Generative AI / AI builders and adopters. In every relationship, we honor our 36+ year legacy delivering the highest quality data and outstanding outcomes for our customers.

About the Role:

We build an advanced data platform that helps demanding enterprise and public-sector customers turn large, complex datasets into high-quality, structured data for AI. We're a small, senior team that values ownership, correctness, and strong engineering. We're hiring a full-stack engineer to help build and operate the product end to end, and to work closely with the customers who use it. You'll spend most of your time building, with regular chances to join customer conversations, help deploy the platform in their environments, and see how it's used in the field. It's a great fit for an engineer who enjoys working with customers and wants to grow into a more customer-facing role.

What You'll Do:

• Build features end to end across our Rust backend and TypeScript/React frontend, from the data model and APIs to a polished, interactive web application.
• Design data models, APIs, and ingestion pipelines that are fast and reliable at scale.
• Help deploy, configure, and support the platform in cloud and customer environments, including AWS GovCloud, on-premises Kubernetes, and air-gapped or classified networks.
• Build data connectors and integrations that bring customer data into the platform and fit it to their workflows.
• Join customer conversations, demos, and occasional on-site visits to understand how the product is used, and turn that feedback into product improvements.
• Contribute to architecture, code quality, performance, and security as the product grows.

What We're Looking For:

• 5+ years building and shipping production software.
• Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility (U.S. citizenship required).
• Strong backend skills in a modern systems or application language (we work primarily in Rust; we're happy to help a strong engineer ramp up).
• Solid SQL and PostgreSQL fundamentals — indexing, transactions, and query performance.
• Proficiency with TypeScript and React and an eye for clean, responsive UIs.
• Experience deploying and running services with Docker and Kubernetes.
• Strong communication skills — able to explain technical work clearly to customers and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to travel to customer sites.

Nice to Have:

• Customer-facing, consulting, or solutions-engineering experience.
• Experience deploying software in classified, air-gapped, or other regulated environments.
• AWS/EKS (including GovCloud), infrastructure-as-code, and STIG or RMF experience.
• Experience with data-intensive applications, data pipelines, or Python for data work.
• Familiarity with AI training data, annotation, or data-labeling workflows.

Core Technologies:

• Rust · TypeScript / React · PostgreSQL · Python · cloud object storage · Docker · Kubernetes · AWS (including GovCloud). (Additional components shared during the interview process.)
• U.S. citizenship and an active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility are required. This role is open to candidates anywhere in the U.S. (remote) or hybrid in the Washington, DC area, with occasional travel to customer sites.

Please be aware of recruitment scams involving individuals or organizations falsely claiming to represent employers. Innodata will never ask for payment, banking details, or sensitive personal information during the application process. To learn more on how to recognize job scams, please visit the Federal Trade Commission’s guide at https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams.

As set forth in Innodata Inc.’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.