Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

eSimplicity Inc.; Columbia (MD); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) retirement benefits

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

eSimplicity Inc. is hiring a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer to join the Rapid Innovation Center. You will work across discovery, architecture, and implementation, partnering with product, program, security, and engineering leaders to turn validated ideas into reusable capabilities.

You’ll shape pragmatic solutions, perform architecture and code work, and mentor teams while maintaining security and privacy expectations in government-oriented environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS/IS/Engineering or related technical field.
• 7+ years of hands-on software, data, platform, cloud or AI engineering experience.
• Strong hands-on depth in one or more areas such as full-stack, data, cloud, AI/ML, platform engineering, integration architecture or DevSecOps.
• Proven track record taking ambiguous problems to prototypes or MVPs quickly with security and delivery discipline.
• Strong stakeholder-facing skills with executives, program leaders and security stakeholders.
• Experience integrating multiple systems, APIs, data sources, cloud services, and modern AI tech in secure environments.
• Experience designing and building secure solutions for PHI/PII with governance and responsible AI expectations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to translate technical decisions into mission and risk implications.
• Experience leading work in Agile or SAFe with Jira/Confluence.

Responsibilities

• Identify high-value operational or mission problems and translate ambiguity into executable solution approaches.
• Conduct interviews and discovery sessions, translate insights into user-centered concepts and prototypes.
• Contribute to architecture, code, integrations, and MVPs from discovery through validation and transition planning.
• Make technical tradeoffs across speed, security, scalability, reuse, and cost.
• Design and integrate systems, data sources, cloud services, CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation.
• Mentor engineers and delivery teams to raise technical quality across engagements.
• Enable adoption through workshops, whiteboarding and coaching.

Skills

Full-stack engineering

Data engineering

Cloud architecture

AI/ML engineering

Platform engineering

DevSecOps

Agile/SAFe

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Math, or related field

Tools

Databricks

Palantir

Jira

Confluence

Job description

All Jobs > Staff Forward Deployed Engineer

Full-time

Description

About Us

eSimplicity is a modern digital services company that partners with government agencies to improve the lives and protect the well-being of all Americans, from veterans and service members to children, families, and seniors. Our engineers, designers, and strategists cut through complexity to create intuitive products and services that equip federal agencies with solutions to courageously transform today for a better tomorrow.

Purpose and Scope:

We’re seeking a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer to join eSimplicity’s Rapid Innovation Center (the RIC). The Staff Forward Deployed Engineer works primarily with internal stakeholders, including program teams, growth teams, executives, business unit CTOs, security leaders, and engineering teams, to identify high-value operational and mission problems, shape practical solution approaches, and help deliver working prototypes and MVPs from concept through validation.

As part of a small, high-trust team, this engineer is expected to take initiative, work effectively through ambiguity, and bring sound judgment to fast-moving challenges. The role requires ownership, adaptability, and close collaboration to help internal teams move quickly while maintaining the technical quality and security needed for solutions that may be adopted across the company.

The role may engage external customers when needed to understand mission context, validate assumptions, or support a program or pursuit, but its primary purpose is to help internal teams move faster and turn validated ideas into repeatable company capabilities.

This is a Staff-level, hands-on technical role for someone who can move fluidly across discovery, solution shaping, architecture, and implementation while partnering with product, program, security, and engineering leaders. This is an individual contributor role with technical leadership responsibilities; it does not include direct people-management responsibilities or ownership of companywide AI governance. Successful work is matured into repeatable patterns, reusable components, and transition plans that other eSimplicity programs and capture teams can adopt.

• Partner with program teams, growth teams, executives, business unit CTOs, security leaders, engineering teams, and other internal stakeholders to identify high-value operational or mission problems, clarify needs, define success measures, and translate ambiguity into executable solution approaches.
• Partner with product and design stakeholders to conduct interviews, discovery sessions, and workflow analysis, then translate those insights into user-centered concepts, interaction patterns, prototypes, and validation approaches for mission-aligned solutions.
• Shape pragmatic solution approaches and contribute directly to architecture, code, integrations, demos, AI applications, data solutions, prototypes, and MVPs from discovery through validation and transition planning.
• Make clear technical tradeoffs across speed, security, scalability, reuse, maintainability, cost, operational readiness, and mission value.
• Design and integrate systems, APIs, data sources, cloud services, CI/CD pipelines, identity controls, observability, monitoring, and deployment automation using Agile, DevSecOps, DataOps, and AnalyticOps practices.
• Apply existing security, privacy, and responsible AI expectations appropriate to prototype or MVP maturity, including PII/PHI protection, access control, auditability, transparency, human oversight, and escalation of governance decisions to the appropriate company or program owners.
• Mature successful work into reusable components, implementation patterns, reference architectures, adoption guidance, and transition plans for scaled development, sustainment, or reuse across programs and capture teams.
• Enable adoption through workshops, whiteboarding sessions, onboarding materials, playbooks, technical reviews, and coaching that help internal teams understand, trust, and reuse RIC-built capabilities.
• Mentor engineers, architects, and delivery teams by sharing patterns, reviewing solution approaches, and raising the technical bar across RIC engagements.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Math, or a related scientific or technical discipline.
• 7+ years of hands-on software, data, platform, cloud, or AI engineering experience, with demonstrated ability to build solutions directly while influencing technical direction across more than one area such as discovery, solution architecture, stakeholder engagement, backlog shaping, or implementation planning.
• Strong hands-on depth in one or more relevant areas such as full-stack engineering, data engineering, cloud architecture, AI/ML engineering, platform engineering, integration architecture, or DevSecOps, with the ability to learn across adjacent domains as needed for RIC engagements.
• Demonstrated record of taking ambiguous internal, program, or customer problems to working prototypes or MVPs quickly while maintaining sound technical judgment, security awareness, and delivery discipline.
• Strong stakeholder-facing skills, including the ability to work directly with executives, program leaders, engineers, security stakeholders, capture teams, and, when needed, government customers.
• Experience integrating multiple systems, APIs, data sources, cloud services, and modern AI technologies, including LLM and agentic approaches, in secure enterprise or government environments.
• Experience designing and building secure solutions that handle PHI, PII, or other sensitive data, with working knowledge of privacy, authorization, governance, auditability, and responsible AI expectations.
• Excellent executive, technical, and written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical decisions into mission, business, delivery, and risk implications.
• Experience leading work in Agile or SAFe environments, including backlog management, technical planning, delivery coordination, and use of Atlassian Jira/Confluence.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust and reside in the United States.

Desired Qualifications:

• Federal, DoD, or health IT experience, especially experience influencing government stakeholders or delivering solutions in Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare, or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services environments. GovCon experience is not required for an exceptional builder with strong stakeholder instincts.
• Hands‑on experience with platforms such as Databricks and Palantir, and experience designing, building, or operationalizing LLM and agentic AI applications such as MCP servers, agents, retrieval‑based solutions, and governed AI workflows.
• Prior forward‑deployed engineering, technical consulting, solution architecture, or senior engineering experience, including translating prototypes into reusable components, reference architectures, and transition plans.
• Experience mentoring engineers, shaping technical standards, reviewing architectures, and improving engineering quality across multiple teams or engagements.
• Relevant certifications or advanced training in data platforms, cloud architecture, coding, AI/ML architecture, or applied AI delivery.

eSimplicity supports a hybrid work environment operating within the Eastern time zone so we can work with and respond to our government clients. Expected hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern unless otherwise directed by your manager.

Occasional travel for training and project meetings. It is estimated to be less than 5% per year.

Benefits:

eSimplicity offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, life and disability insurance, and additional wellness and employee support programs. Eligibility may vary based on employment status and applicable plan terms.

Reasonable Accommodation:

eSimplicity is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process. Applicants who need assistance or accommodation should contact Human Resources.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

eSimplicity is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.