Forward Deployed AI Engineer

EMPLOYER IS A CONTRACTOR FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. THIS POSITION REQUIRES U.S. CITIZENSHIP. Role Description: Defense Unicorns is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed AI Engineer to embed with defense and national security customers as a technical partner, owning solutions from problem discovery through production deployment. The work centers on backend engineering, data pipelines, and retrieval systems that power agentic and generative AI capabilities on top of Defense Unicorns' core platform (Unified Defense Stack). You'll deploy and operate these systems across cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments, then carry field insights back to product and engineering to improve the platform. This is a customer-facing, delivery-focused role, not an ML research position. Responsibilities: Embed with strategic customers as a technical partner, owning the arc from problem discovery through solution delivery and customer adoption. Architect, build, and deploy backend systems that power generative AI capabilities: APIs, data processing pipelines, integration layers, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), and context engineering patterns. Deploy and operate systems in cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped environments using Defense Unicorns' core platform and delivery patterns. Scope and sequence delivery: define roadmaps, set priorities, make speed/quality/scope tradeoffs, and remove blockers across internal teams and customer stakeholders. Codify reusable patterns for mission environments: tooling, internal frameworks, and playbooks that make future deployments faster and more repeatable. Serve as the technical face to customer leadership: translate complex technical work for non-technical stakeholders, build trust, and drive adoption. Carry field insights back to product and engineering teams to improve the platform based on what's actually breaking or missing in production. Prototype and validate new capabilities using core products and design patterns, feeding lessons learned back into the product. Travel Expectations/Requirements: Up to 25%, flexible based on engagement needs The listed responsibilities are not exhaustive and additional responsibilities may be assigned based on the evolving needs of the organization. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is able to adapt and take on new responsibilities as they arise. Required Experience and Qualifications: 4+ years of backend or full-stack engineering experience, with production-grade work in Python. Experience designing and operating data pipelines, APIs, and integration layers in production. Hands-on experience with information retrieval systems: keyword search, vector search, document parsing and chunking, reranking, or search engine internals (Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or similar). Working knowledge of RAG patterns or applied generative AI: connecting LLMs to real data sources in a production context. Experience deploying or operating software in government, defense, or similarly regulated environments (or equivalent high-assurance contexts). Strong communication skills: able to translate technical work into clear language for non-technical stakeholders and build trust with customers. Comfort with ambiguity and shifting priorities. You take initiative, define your own work when direction is unclear, and deliver under pressure. Eligibility to obtain a U.S. security clearance. Preferred Experience and Qualifications: Experience deploying applications on Kubernetes in air-gapped or classified environments. Familiarity with open-source LLMs/SLMs (Llama, Mixtral, Gemma, Phi), including inference frameworks, structured output, or fine-tuning. Experience developing and maintaining LLM evaluation frameworks. Background in document processing pipelines: parsing, chunking, embedding, and indexing at scale. Active security clearance (Secret or above; TS/SCI preferred). Prior customer-facing or forward-deployed engineering experience. Full compensation packages are based on candidate experience. Compensation ranges are established using national benchmarking data and apply across all geographic locations within the United States. Remote - USA $148,750 — $201,250 USD Who We Are Defense Unicorns delivers mission value by streamlining software delivery so our customers can focus on the most important challenges. We share a vision of freedom and security for the advancement of progress and innovation. Our commitment to this vision, and to our mission-driven customers, means a commitment to speed, user experience and optionality, without compromising security. Our team is composed of innovators, software engineers, and veterans with decades of experience delivering technology programs across the federal market. What We Do We create and deliver secure solutions for continuous software integration and delivery. Defense Unicorns consolidates the best practices for security pipelines, testing, and deployment automation in order to meet the high security requirements valued by mission owners. Our solutions are agnostic by design and we believe that growing a robust ecosystem of secure, cloud-native software solutions can help enterprise customers inside and outside the federal market buy and integrate software more easily. Who We Serve Defense Unicorns’ customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products. What We Work On Kubernetes Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure) Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi) Continuous Delivery and automation tooling GitOps Containers CNCF projects and open source products and packages Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping Building and improving security delivery Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications Benefits Our Unicorns Enjoy Health: Medical/Dental/Vision Premiums are 100% Company Paid Health Savings Account Life Insurance Disability Insurance Financial: 401k Retirement Plan Company Stock Options Home Office Budget Leave: We offer all full-time Unicorns Flexible Time Off (FTO) plus all Federal Holidays, one week for Thanksgiving, and two weeks for Christmas and New Year’s Paid Parental Leave Learning: Reimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptions Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees) Don’t have all the preferred experience or qualifications? Studies show that underrepresented groups like women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs if they don't meet every requirement listed. At Defense Unicorns, we're committed to diversity. If you're enthusiastic about the role but don't match every criteria, we encourage you to apply. You could be the perfect fit for this or another role! Defense Unicorns is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. CCPA DISCLOSURE