[Remote] Forward Deployed AI Engineer

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Defense Unicorns is a veteran-founded company focused on transforming how the U.S. Department of War builds and delivers software. As a Forward Deployed AI Engineer, you will work closely with strategic customers to architect and deploy AI systems, ensuring rapid and secure software delivery to support warfighters.ResponsibilitiesEmbed with strategic customers as a technical partner, working from problem discovery to solution implementation and customer adoptionArchitect, build, deploy, and operate agentic Generative AI systems: APIs, data processing ETL pipelines, integration layers, Retrieval Augmented Generation, and context engineeringWork in cloud, on-prem, and edge/air-gapped environments to ensure software can run where the mission demandsPrototype and deploy systems leveraging the core products and design patterns of the Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS); bring back insights from the field for continuous product improvement Scope, sequence, and lead delivery of solutions: define living roadmaps, set priorities, trade off speed vs quality vs scope, work across internal teams and customer stakeholders to drive clarity and remove blockers earlyCodify reusable patterns for mission environments: build tools, internal frameworks, playbooks so future deployments are faster, safer, and repeatableAct as the technical face to customer leadership: communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, build trust, manage expectations, and ensure successful scale and mission adoption. This is a customer-facing roleAbility and interest to travel up as needed to client sites, but flexible based on personal preferencesSkillsU.S. citizenship is requiredAn active security clearance is preferredClearance eligibility is required3+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience (backend or full-stack), ideally in customer-facing or government environments (DoD, intelligence, public sector) or analogous high-assurance contextsStrong backend engineering skills: production-grade code in Python or TypeScript; deep familiarity with designing services, APIs, data pipelines, integrations, and backend frameworksFamiliarity with LLMs or generative AI systems — be able to explain the fundamentals of Context Engineering and understand how model behavior connects to product/mission experience, and how AI capabilities integrate into larger system architecturesStrong ability to work in ambiguity: define scope, sequence work, make trade-offs between speed, quality, and scope; remove blockers; deliver under pressure in dynamic mission-driven settingsExcellent communication skills: able to translate complex technical details into clear messaging for non-technical stakeholders; work cross-functionally; build relationships with customers and internal teamsMission-oriented mindset. Have an understanding that our work is supporting the defense and freedom of the nationExperience with deploying applications on Kubernetes inside of air-gapped or secure environmentsExperience with Information Retrieval fundamentals including knowledge of keyword and vector based search, document parsing and chunking, document reranking, and SQL/NoSQL search enginesExperience with developing, executing, and maintaining LLM evaluationsExperience with open source LLM or SLM models (Llama3, Mixtral, Gemma, Phi) including inference frameworks, structured output, fine-tuning, and model architecture reconfigurationBenefitsMedical/Dental/VisionPremiums are 100% Company PaidHealth Savings AccountLife InsuranceDisability Insurance401k Retirement PlanCompany Stock OptionsHome Office BudgetWe 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’sPaid Parental LeaveReimbursement for approved trainings/subscriptionsConferences (travel, lodging, and fees)Company OverviewDefense Unicorns is a software startup that provides open-source software and AI capabilities for national security systems. It was founded in 2021, and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https://www.defenseunicorns.com.