Sales Engineer, Embedded AI

Agile Defense; McLean (VA); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Agile Defense, based in McLean, VA, is seeking a Sales Engineer for Embedded AI to join its Embedded AI team. This role sits in a hybrid environment in McLean, VA, and requires 4+ years in related pre-sales roles and a Top Secret clearance, with ability to obtain clearance.

You will translate customer needs into demonstrations of capability within our platform stack. We are looking for someone who can engage across operators, program offices, and engineers, delivering credible demos and driving

Qualifications

• 4+ years in a sales engineering or technical pre-sales role, ideally serving DoD, IC, or federal civilian customers.
• College degree in computer science or relevant field preferred.
• Active TS/SCI clearance, or ability to obtain with upgrade willingness.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites.

Skills

Sales engineering

APIs & integrations

AI systems

Requirements discovery

Written & verbal comms

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

College degree in CS or relevant field

Job description

About Agile Defense

At Agile Defense we know that action defines the outcome and new challenges require new solutions. That’s why we always look to the future and embrace change with an unmovable spirit and the courage to build for what comes next.

Our vision is to bring adaptive innovation to support our nation's most important missions through the seamless integration of advanced technologies, elite minds, and unparalleled agility—leveraging a foundation of speed, flexibility, and ingenuity to strengthen and protect our nation’s vital interests.

Requisition #: 1745

Job Title: Sales Engineer, Embedded AI

Location: Hybrid, McLean, VA

Clearance Level: Top Secret, Must Have Ability to Obtain a Clearance

Job Description

Agile Labs is the applied‑AI division of Agile Defense. We build non‑exquisite AI systems and field them across cloud, on‑premises, and air‑gapped environments for the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, FBI, SOCOM, and other mission‑driven customers. We do this through three integrated teams that operate as a flywheel: Embedded AI proves the need inside operational units, Force‑Deployed Engineering proves it works in the field, and Product hardens what works into reusable capability.

The Embedded AI team is the customer‑depth team. We embed where decisions actually get made, find the mission problems that do not yet have a repeatable solution, and prototype against them fast using our platform stack. The Sales Engineer is the technical voice in that room — the person who can sit across from an operator or program office, understand the problem in their language, and translate it into a working demonstration of capability inside their mission context. You are the bridge between what the customer needs and what our stack can do, and you carry that translation all the way from first conversation to fielded proof.

This is a hands‑on, technical, customer‑facing role. It is not a quota‑carrying closing seat and it is not a back‑office solutions desk. You will spend your time in front of customers and inside our own platform, and you will be measured on whether the capability you put in front of a customer earns the next engagement.

Education and Background

College degree in computer science or relevant field preferred.

Years of Experience

4+ years

Required Skills

• 4+ years in a sales engineering, solutions architecture, forward‑deployed engineering, or technical pre‑sales role — ideally serving DoD, IC, or federal civilian customers.
• The ability to operate at the intersection of deep technical detail and commercial/strategic reasoning, and to move fluidly between an operator, a program manager, and an engineer in the same day.
• Hands‑on technical fluency: comfort building and demonstrating software, working with APIs and integrations, and reasoning about modern AI systems (agents, orchestration, RAG, evaluation) well enough to design a credible demo and defend it under questioning.
• Strong discovery and requirements instincts — you ask the questions that help a customer think, not the ones that extract free labor from them, and you can write clear functional and non‑functional requirements from a messy conversation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to produce briefs and proposal content that hold up to technical scrutiny.
• Active TS/SCI clearance, active Secret with the eligibility and willingness to upgrade, or ability to obtain either.
• Willingness to travel to customer and field sites.

Preferred Skills

• Direct experience with SOF, SOCOM, or Combatant Command customers, or with the FBI / IC.
• Familiarity with the federal acquisition landscape: SWP / Software Acquisition Pathway, OTAs, IDIQ vehicles, and the realities of capture and proposal cycles.
• Working knowledge of accreditation and compliance frameworks relevant to fielding AI in government environments (IL-5, FedRAMP, CMMC, NIST, cATO, OSCAL).
• Experience building or demonstrating agentic AI, OSINT, C2, or risk‑screening capabilities.
• A background that combines technical delivery with business development or capture instincts — the rarer the combination, the better the fit.

Working Conditions

Office Environment

$125,000 - $155,000 a year

Our Core Values

Employees of Agile Defense are our number one priority, and the importance we place on our culture here is fundamental. Our culture is alive and evolving, but it always stays true to its roots. Here, you are valued as a family member, and we believe that we can accomplish great things together. Agile Defense has been highly successful in the past few years due to our employees and the culture we create together.

What makes us Agile? We call it the 6Hs, the values that define our culture and guide everything we do. Together, these values infuse vibrancy, integrity, and a tireless work ethic into advancing the most important national security and critical civilian missions. It's how we show up every day. It's who we are.

• Happy - Be Infectious. Happiness multiplies and creates a positive and connected environment where motivation and satisfaction have an outsized effect on everything we do.
• Helpful - Be Supportive. Being helpful is the foundation of teamwork, resulting in a supportive atmosphere where collaboration flourishes, and collective success is celebrated.
• Honest - Be Trustworthy. Honesty serves as our compass, ensuring transparent communication and ethical conduct, essential to who we are and the complex domains we support.
• Humble - Be Grounded. Success is not achieved alone, humility ensures a culture of mutual respect, encouraging open communication, and a willingness to learn from one another and take on any task.
• Hungry - Be Eager. Our hunger for excellence drives an insatiable appetite for innovation and continuous improvement, propelling us forward in the face of new and unprecedented challenges.
• Hustle - Be Driven. Hustle is reflected in our relentless work ethic, where we are each committed to going above and beyond to advance the mission and achieve success.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities