Forward Deployed Engineer / DC

Motion Recruitment; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 95,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity eligible

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k)

PTO

Job summary

Motion Recruitment represents an early-stage AI company based in Washington, DC, hiring a full-time Forward Deployed Engineer to deploy, support, and scale the platform across customer environments. The role sits at the intersection of software engineering, deployments, customer engagement, and technical problem solving.

The ideal candidate is a builder who enjoys solving ambiguous problems, works directly with customers, and takes ownership of technical challenges in the real world, with

Qualifications

• Must hold Secret clearance or above
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years? 4+ years for senior candidate or more? (as per job listing)

Responsibilities

• Deploy, support, and scale the platform across a variety of customer environments.
• Work directly with customers and take ownership of technical challenges in the real world.
• Collaborate across software engineering, deployments, and customer engagement.

Skills

Python

Secret clearance

Communication skills

Independence

Defense/Intelligence experience

Customer-facing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Job description

Our client is an early-stage AI company based in Washington, DC, building advanced software systems that help organizations identify and analyze emerging risks across complex digital environments. They are hiring a full-time Forward Deployed Engineer to help deploy, support, and scale their platform across a variety of customer environments. This role sits at the intersection of software engineering, systems deployment, customer engagement, and technical problem solving. The technology stack includes modern cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, AI-driven applications, and on-premise deployments.

This is an opportunity to join a small, high-caliber team where your impact will be visible immediately. The ideal candidate is a builder who enjoys solving ambiguous problems, working directly with customers, and taking ownership of technical challenges in the real world, and has meaningful experience doing so in previous roles. This role is 5 days onsite in DC.

Required Skills & Experience

• Must hold Secret clearance or above
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• Years of experience:
  • 1+ years of software engineering/forward-deployed engineering experience for junior or mid-level candidates
  • 4+ years of experience for senior candidates
  • 7+ years of experience for principal candidates
• Experience in defense, intelligence, or public safety
• Strong coding ability in Python or similar
• Ability to work independently in unfamiliar environment
• Excellent communication skills and customer-facing professionalism
• Passion for AI, distributed systems, or emerging technologies
• Highly Preferred: Experience in a highly customer-facing technical role at a top-tier engineering organization with a strong track record of developing Forward Deployed Engineers

The Offer

• Equity eligible
• Medical, dental, vision insurance
• 401(k)
• PTO

Posted By:

Sarah Unowsky