Forward Deployed Engineer - Washington, D.C

Realm Alliance, Inc.

Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY)

On-site

USD 140,000 - 190,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Unlimited PTO

401(k) match

Equity

Home office stipend

Job summary

Realm Alliance, Inc. seeks a Forward Deployed Engineer to own on-site integrations, deployments, and translating real-world needs into robust, scalable technical solutions.

You will work hands-on with customer systems, troubleshoot in demanding environments, and prototype tools quickly to ensure Realm succeeds in mission-critical setups. This role is deeply technical and field-oriented, embedding with users, validating assumptions, and ensuring reliability under real-world constraints.

Qualifications

2+ years of relevant field/forward deployed experience with measurable shipped work
Strong ability to read, write, and debug code for prototyping
Experience working with enterprise/industrial/government-type products
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Hands-on prototyping and AI-assisted coding skills
Ability to thrive in ambiguous environments and balance long-term vision with immediate needs

Responsibilities

Spend ~25% of time onsite with customers across the US.
Shadow operators and frontline teams to understand workflows and integration needs.
Prototype tools and integrations in the field to validate ideas and feasibility.
Troubleshoot complex operational or systems issues in varied environments.
Translate field insights into technical requirements for engineering.
Lead all technical integration work including APIs, data pipelines, hardware interfaces, and security setups.
Collaborate with engineering to ensure features meet field needs and constraints.
Represent customer realities to internal teams to ensure feasibility and reliability.
Decompose real-world problems into well-scoped workstreams.
Ensure customer success by enabling smooth deployment and data flow.
Inform product teams with field feedback to guide changes.
Support pre-sales by traveling onsite to demonstrate value.
Help scale Realm’s forward deployed engineering function.

Skills

Software engineering

Prototyping

Git/Linux

Collaboration

Field deployment

US resident

Communication

AI coding

Security/compliance

Tools

Git

Linux

Job description

Company Overview

Realm builds AI for the mining industry. We integrate with existing mine infrastructure — cameras, SCADA systems, drones, and data repositories — to predict equipment failures, detect unsafe behaviors, and optimize operations. Our platform deploys intelligence in various ways to improve productivity and safety — monitoring PPE compliance via computer vision, optimizing froth flotation processes, analyzing longwall shearer performance, tracking MSHA citation patterns, and more.

Our founders started their careers at Palantir before going on to build Blend Labs (publicly traded fintech, founded as CTO) and Even (acquired by Walmart). Our leadership team brings experience from Uber, Metropolis, and other high-bar organizations. We're a small, senior team that ships daily to production mines.

AI isn't just our product — it's how we build. We're an AI-first engineering team that uses the latest models and tooling throughout our development process, moving faster and at higher quality than traditional teams our size.

Our culture values high agency, deep ownership, collaboration, and autonomy across a fully remote workforce. Teams here move quickly and make meaningful contributions to a product that shapes global industrial outcomes.

The Role

As our first Forward Deployed Engineer, you will be the technical point of contact for customers in the field—owning integrations, onsite deployment work, and the translation of real-world operational needs into robust, scalable technical solutions. You’ll work hands-on with customer systems, troubleshoot complex environments, and rapidly prototype tools and integrations needed to make Realm successful in mission-critical settings.

This role is deeply technical and field-oriented—focused on making the product work seamlessly in demanding industrial and government environments. You’ll embed with users, uncover operational realities, validate technical assumptions, and ensure our technology performs reliably under real-world constraints. This is an ideal role for someone who enjoys building in messy environments, thrives on customer interaction, and takes pride in shipping solutions that matter.

What You’ll Do

Spend ~25% of your time onsite with customers across the US
Build a ground-truth understanding of customer operations—shadowing operators, analysts, and frontline teams to understand workflows, constraints, and integration requirements
Rapidly prototype tools and integrations in the field (“vibe-coding”) to validate ideas, solve urgent problems, and prove feasibility before handing off to engineering
Troubleshoot and diagnose complex operational or systems issues across varied and sometimes degraded environments
Translate field insights into clear technical requirements and integration specs for the engineering team
Lead all technical integration work, including APIs, data pipelines, hardware/software interfaces, and security/compliance-sensitive deployment setups
Work closely with engineering to ensure features, interfaces, and infrastructure align with real-world operational needs
Represent customer technical realities internally—ensuring feasibility, reliability, and operational constraints are deeply understood
Decompose ambiguous, real-world problems into well-scoped technical workstreams
Ensure customers succeed in mission-critical contexts by enabling smooth deployment, data flow, connectivity, and operational reliability
Inform the product and engineering teams with data, field observations, and frontline feedback—advocating for changes that reflect true customer needs
Play a key role in pre-sales by traveling onsite with prospects to demonstrate and prove out the product's value before a deal closes
Contribute to the foundation, process, and culture that will scale Realm’s forward deployed engineering function

What We’re Looking For

Must-Have Qualifications

2+ years of software engineering or forward deployed / mission operations experience, with a record of shipping impactful work
Strong technical fluency and the ability to work closely with engineers—comfortable reading, writing, and debugging code enough to build prototypes
Low ego, high EQ, and exceptional collaborative instincts—able to build trust inside Realm and with external partners
Experience working directly with enterprise, industrial, government, defense, or security-critical products
Strong coding skills, problem-solving ability, and grasp of computer science fundamentals
Mastery of core development/infrastructure/DevOps tools (Git, Linux)
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional problem solving, influence technical teams, and drive projects from inception to delivery
Ability to thrive in ambiguous environments—strong prioritization, structured thinking, and comfort balancing long-term vision with immediate needs
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to simplify complexity for a wide range of stakeholders
Strong data instincts—comfortable analyzing data, forming hypotheses, and making data-informed decisions
Hands‑on prototyping and AI‑assisted coding skills; comfortable hacking together real solutions quickly to test ideas
Move fast, can tackle ambiguous problems, and sweat the details
Based in US - citizen (preferred) or permanent resident

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

Experience working on‑site with customers in field or operational environments
Background deploying software to industrial or government settings, with an understanding of constraints like safety, latency, offline ops, or compliance
Familiarity with mobile or web applications, cloud infrastructure, IoT/industrial systems, or real‑time data pipelines
Experience navigating sensitive or mission‑critical customer environments
Expertise around mining, industrial safety regulations, etc.

Why Realm?

Work on mission‑critical problems at the intersection of AI, security, and global infrastructure
Shape the brand and product of a category‑defining company from the ground up
High‑ownership, high‑impact role with direct influence on company growth
Competitive compensation with significant equity upside
Dynamic, remote work environment with global reach

Benefits/Perks