Forward Deployed Full Stack Engineer (Active Secret Clearance)

Tribalscale Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

TribalScale is seeking a Forward Deployed Full Stack Engineer with an active US Secret clearance to embed with a US government-facing client. You will ship end-to-end features from frontend to data and infrastructure in secure environments, collaborating with stakeholders and ensuring security requirements are met.

You’ll work on on-site deployments, build AI-enabled capabilities, and mentor teams while maintaining strong client relationships and delivering high-impact software in rapid cycles.

Qualifications

• Active US Secret clearance required; US citizenship required.
• 5+ years of professional full stack development.
• Strong front-end skills with TypeScript and React.
• Strong back-end skills in Python, Node.js, Java or Go; REST/GraphQL experience.
• Relational DB experience (PostgreSQL or similar).
• Hands-on with containers and CI/CD; Docker is required; Kubernetes/OpenShift a plus.
• Cloud experience on AWS/Azure/GCP; Gov regions a plus.
• Excellent client-facing communication and ability to explain tradeoffs.
• Ability to work in ambiguous environments and ship quickly.

Responsibilities

• Embed with the client team on site or remotely, collaborating with end users, product owners, and security teams to understand workflows.
• Build full stack features across frontend, backend, data, and infra. Own a feature end-to-end.
• Deploy into secure, air-gapped or government environments, including on-prem or government cloud.
• Turn ambiguous needs into working software; prototype quickly and iterate with users.
• Integrate AI where it adds value, including self-hosted or approved models.
• Adhere to security processes and coordinate with ISSO and compliance teams.
• Act as TribalScale's technical bridge back to internal teams and bring in specialists when needed.

Skills

Full stack development (5+ years)

TypeScript

React

Back-end languages: Python/Node.js/Ja​

REST/GraphQL APIs

PostgreSQL

Docker / CI/CD

Cloud: AWS/Azure/GCP

Client-facing communication

AI-native development habits

Ambiguity tolerance

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes/OpenShift

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Shape the Future with TribalScale

TribalScale is a digital innovation firm that helps organizations adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. We partner with clients to build transformative digital products, modernize technology platforms, and apply emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence—to meaningful business challenges.

Shape the Future with TribalScale

TribalScale is a digital innovation firm that helps organizations adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. We partner with clients to build transformative digital products, modernize technology platforms, and apply emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence—to meaningful business challenges.

Our Digital Expertise

• Transformation Experts: We transform traditional business models into agile, AI-powered ecosystems.
• Strategic Visionaries: We navigate the uncharted waters of technological evolution.
• Product Virtuosos: We orchestrate the creation of world-class digital solutions.
• Code Optimizers: We leverage AI to refine and perfect digital systems.

Our Technological Toolkit

• Mobile & Web Development: (iOS, Android, React Native, React, Node.js)
• Voice-Activated Platforms: (Amazon Alexa, Google Home)
• Connected Ecosystems: (Cars and Homes)
• Streaming Platforms: (Roku, Fire TV, Android TV, tvOS)

The TribalScale Professional

You thrive in challenging environments where innovation is key. Your passion for technology is matched only by your drive to redefine its limits. You seek more than a job; you seek a calling—a chance to make a lasting impact on the digital landscape.

The Opportunity

We’re looking for a Forward Deployed Full Stack Engineer who holds an active US Secret clearance to embed with a US government-facing client. You won't be handed a spec and left alone with a ticket queue. You'll work alongside the client's users and stakeholders, find out what they need, and build it and ship it into a secure environment, often in the same week.

This role suits an engineer who's equally comfortable building a React front end, designing an API, debugging a deployment in a locked-down environment, and walking a non-technical stakeholder through a tradeoff. You'll be TribalScale's technical presence on site, so your judgment matters as much as your code.

What You’ll Do

• Embed with the client team. Work on site and remotely with end users, product owners, and the client's technical and security teams to understand their workflows firsthand.
• Build full stack, end to end. Ship production features across the front end, back end, data layer, and infrastructure. You own a feature from the first conversation through deployment.
• Deploy into secure, constrained environments. Get software running in on-prem, government cloud, or restricted networks, where the tooling and internet access you're used to may not be available.
• Turn ambiguous needs into working software. Prototype quickly, put something real in front of users, and iterate with them. Don't wait for a perfect requirements doc.
• Integrate AI where it earns its place. Build LLM-powered features and agentic workflows that fit the client's security and data-handling constraints, including working with self-hosted or approved models.
• Work within the security process. Write code and documentation that hold up under security review, and partner with the client's ISSO and compliance teams on authorization requirements.
• Be the bridge back to TribalScale. Bring field insight to our broader engineering and product teams, and pull in TribalScale specialists when the engagement needs them.

What We’re Looking For

• An active US Secret clearance (or higher) and the ability to maintain it. US citizenship is required. We can't sponsor a new clearance for this role.
• 5+ years of professional full stack development, shipping production software that real users rely on.
• Strong front-end skills in TypeScript and a modern framework (React preferred).
• Strong back-end skills in at least one of Python, Node.js, Java, or Go, plus REST and/or GraphQL API design.
• Relational database experience (PostgreSQL or similar), including data modeling and query performance.
• Hands-on with containers and CI/CD. Docker is a must; Kubernetes or OpenShift is a strong plus.
• Cloud experience on AWS, Azure, or GCP. Government regions (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government) are a plus.
• Client-facing confidence. You've worked directly with end users or customer stakeholders, and you can explain technical tradeoffs in plain language.
• AI-native development habits. You already use AI coding tools in your day-to-day work and know where they help and where they don't.
• Comfort with ambiguity. You can make progress, and make sensible calls, without a fully formed spec.

We recognize that strong candidates may not meet every qualification listed. If this role excites you and your experience is adjacent to what we have described, we encourage you to apply.

Nice to Have

• Prior forward deployed, field engineering, or embedded consulting experience.
• Experience deploying into air-gapped or disconnected environments.
• Familiarity with NIST 800-53, RMF/ATO processes, DISA STIGs, or FedRAMP.
• A DoD 8140/8570-aligned certification (e.g. CompTIA Security+).
• Experience building with LLMs: RAG, agent frameworks, evaluation, or running open-weight models on approved infrastructure.
• An active TS or TS/SCI clearance.

What Success Looks Like

In your first few months, you will have built trusted relationships with client and TribalScale teams, developed a strong understanding of the client’s operating environment, and contributed working software to a meaningful business challenge.

As you grow in the role, you will:

• Turn loosely defined client needs into clear, executable technical plans.
• Deliver AI-enabled products that perform reliably outside of controlled demonstrations.
• Establish evaluation and observability practices that make quality measurable and regressions visible.
• Improve agent behavior by refining harnesses, loops, tools, graphs, context, and safeguards—not only by changing prompts or models.
• Help client teams understand what their AI systems can do, where they can fail, and how they should be operated responsibly.
• Create reusable technical patterns that accelerate future TribalScale engagements.
• Become a trusted partner who can navigate uncertainty, solve difficult technical problems, and help promising ideas reach production.

Why TribalScale

You’ll do work that matters to the people using it, and you’ll see the impact up close because you’ll be sitting with them. You’ll have the independence of a forward deployed role with a full AI-first engineering firm behind you: product managers, designers, and engineers who are shipping agentic systems in production for enterprise clients. We value judgment, speed, and honesty over process for its own sake.

Why Choose TribalScale

At TribalScale, collaboration is at the heart of our innovative approach. We don't simply work for clients; we form partnerships, building transformative solutions that redefine what's possible. Our team, once at the forefront of the mobile revolution, now leads the charge in AI-driven innovation.

We empower each team member to be a catalyst for change, adhering to our principles of meritocracy, empowerment, and transparency. Diversity isn't just celebrated—it's fundamental to our strength. Our mission to "Right the Future" is a call to action to make a significant impact in the world of innovation.

Diversity: Our Collective Strength

TribalScale proudly stands as a beacon of equal opportunity in employment and workplace culture. We are steadfastly committed to equal employment opportunity, transcending the boundaries of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, able-bodiedness, or gender identity.

We not only welcome but actively encourage applications from individuals of all abilities, ages, citizenships, marital statuses, and gender identities. Your unique perspective is the key to our collective innovation.

Should you require any accommodations, we implore you to inform us. Our commitment to inclusivity knows no bounds, and we stand ready to adapt our processes to ensure your comfort and success.