
Forward Deployed Software Engineer
Posted 4 days ago
The role in short
Builds new 0-to-1 software capabilities on site with defense and industrial customers, from discovery visits to shipped features.
Company Description
Air is the leader in Enterprise Readiness. Our mission is to establish readiness as a real-time condition that is continuously achieved. Today, a dangerous Readiness Gap exists between what the front line needs and what is delivered. Our AI-native platform, Air Enterprise Readiness, aligns development, production, delivery, and sustainment into one coordinated execution system for government agencies and industrial suppliers. By revealing true capacity, exposing real constraints, coordinating resources, and executing at the speed of operational demands, the front line gets what it needs to succeed.
Job Description
We are seeking self-starting, customer-value-oriented software engineers to join our Forward Deployed Engineering team. As a Forward Deployed Software Engineer at Air, you are accountable for building new and differentiated 0-to-1 capabilities, in the field with our customers, end to end. You are motivated by moving quickly but responsibly against urgent and compelling opportunities to deliver valuable software-driven outcomes to our customers. The idea of building something new energizes you and want to work on problems that matter, and you want to own. You understand and appreciate the value of face-to-face interactions with end users, and constantly seek to push the boundaries of what is possible.
In order to do this job well, you must be a curious and eager problem solver. You must possess exceptional judgment when it comes to balancing competing priorities and making tradeoffs. You must be flexible, you must value outcomes over process, you must thrive in ambiguous environments, and above all else focus on solving valuable problems for our customers.
In a typical week, the individual who fills this position could expect to:
Spend the day onsite with users, listening to problems and asking questions seeking to understand pain points
Collaborate with product managers and designers to scope, architect, and deliver 0-to-1 product initiatives and prototypes.
Build and deliver working, customer-facing prototypes.
Assess, prioritize, and correct the most important gaps in prototype solutions under development based on user feedback and in partnership with product managers
Fail often, iterate quickly, and try again
This role is a full-time position located out of our office in Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, or Remote.
This role may require up to 50% travel.
Scope of Responsibilities
- Conduct customer site visits to diagnose and understand pain points
- Participate in the end-to-end software development of new feature functionality and design capabilities
- Iterate quickly to progressively unlock customer value
- Craft clean, testable, and maintainable code
Qualifications
- U.S. Citizenship is required
Required Skills:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent work experience
- 1+ years of front-end or back-end software development experience (SQL, Java and/or Typescript/React)
- Ability to work independently with little supervision
- A burning desire to work in a challenging, fast-paced tech environment
Desired Skills:
- Current possession of a U.S. security clearance or the ability to obtain one with our sponsorship
- Experience in or exposure to the nuances of a startup or other entrepreneurial environment
- Experience working within the boundaries of a federally accredited software environment
- Experience in or exposure to the nuances of a startup or other entrepreneurial environment
- Experience working in a customer-facing or consulting role
We firmly believe that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. If you thrive while building solutions to complex problems, are a self-starter, and are passionate about making an impact in global security, we’re eager to hear from you.
Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans status or any other characteristic protected by law.
Prep for this interview
3 questions likely to come up at Air, each matched to a line in this posting.
- 1Cloud, deployment and security
They wrote: “Current possession of a U.S. security clearance or the ability to obtain one with our sponsorship”
The customer's security team sends a 200-question review. How do you handle it?
How to answer
Why they ask: Security reviews often block deals. FDEs help get through them.
- Start from your company's standard answers (SOC 2 report, past reviews)
- Answer clearly; don't oversell
- Bring in your security team for anything you're unsure of
- Keep the new answers for the next customer
Tip: Reuse past answers, flag honest gaps, and offer a call for the hard questions.
- 2Data and SQL
They wrote: “1+ years of front-end or back-end software development experience (SQL, Java and/or Typescript/React)”
Write a query that finds each customer's first and most recent order.
How to answer
Why they ask: A quick check that you're comfortable with grouping, joins and window functions.
- Clarify the tables and what counts as an order (cancelled ones?)
- Use MIN/MAX with GROUP BY, or ROW_NUMBER() if you need the whole row
- Handle ties on the same timestamp, and customers with no orders
- Explain how you'd test it on a few known customers
Tip: Say what you'd check in the data before writing the query: duplicates, time zones, nulls.
- 3Travel
They wrote: “Conduct customer site visits to diagnose and understand pain points”
How do you handle being on the road with customers for weeks at a time?
How to answer
Why they ask: Many FDE roles involve regular travel. They check you know what you're signing up for.
- Your past travel or on-site experience
- How you stay productive away from the team
- What travel level works for you, said plainly
Tip: Be honest about what works for you. A mismatch here hurts both sides later.
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