Forward Deployed Engineer (TS/SCI Clearance)
- Location
- United States
- Workplace
- Remote
- Employment
- Full-time
- Compensation
- $180k – $220k + equity
- Visa
- No Visa Sponsorship
About this role
We are looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer with 4+ years of experience to serve as the technical owner for mission-critical national security software deployments at Vannevar Labs. You'll sit at the intersection of engineering and customer engagement — translating operator requirements into production-grade software deployed directly into government environments. This is a rare opportunity to do hands-on, high-stakes engineering work that directly shapes U.S. defense outcomes.
What will you be doing?
- Deploy and sustain production software directly inside government and DoD IT environments, owning delivery end-to-end from requirements through fielding
- Serve as the primary technical point of contact for mission owners, operators, and intel analysts — translating ambiguous field requirements into shipped software
- Scope and build low-cost pilots with government mission teams (pre-sales) and execute full technical deployments post-contract close (post-sales)
- Contribute hands-on backend code (Python-preferred) across customer use cases, including large-scale text, multimedia, and geospatial data
- Navigate government IT ecosystems (RMF, IdAM, SIEM, CDSs) and collaborate cross-functionally with product, design, and platform engineering teams
Key Requirements
- Active U.S. TS clearance with SCI eligibility (candidates eligible and willing to obtain clearance may be considered if technically exceptional)
- 4+ years of full-stack engineering experience with strong backend fundamentals — Python preferred; assessed via backend coding and algorithms interview
- Demonstrated experience deploying software inside government or DoD IT environments (RMF, IdAM, SIEM, CDSs)
- Proven ability to own a project end-to-end in a field-facing or customer-embedded context with minimal oversight
- U.S. citizen based anywhere in the U.S., willing to travel 20–30% to customer and classified operational sites
What happens next
Skip the application pile. Clera gets you in front of the people who decide.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
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A meeting lands on your calendar
When the company wants to meet, Clera gets the call on your calendar. You just show up.
Culture & values
Engineering team is small, flat, and mission-obsessed, operating more like focused startups than a traditional defense contractor
Culture defined by high ownership and low bureaucracy
Forward Deployed Engineers run mission workstreams like founders with autonomy over architectural decisions and direct stakeholder interfaces
CTO personally meets with every engineering candidate, reflecting technical leadership's commitment to culture fit
Strong bias toward builders who thrive in ambiguity and can drive work through to deployment without perfectly defined playbooks
Cross-functional and tight-knit collaboration between FDEs, product, design, platform engineering, and mission domain experts
Engineers rewarded for speaking both technical and mission fluency
Team combines world-class software engineers with veteran strategists in intentional blend
Engineers own missions end-to-end from requirements gathering through deployment and sustainment
Fast-paced work environment with genuinely consequential impact
Team operates with startup-level agility while maintaining profitability and staying power
Culture that respects the whole person, not just the engineer
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