Forward Deployed Engineer - TS SCI Clearance Required

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

About the role

Our Mission teams operate like small startups within the Vannevar Labs umbrella. As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will serve as the technical owner for a mission and its associated customer engagements. You will work directly with operators, analysts, and technical stakeholders supporting national security missions, owning the architecture, development, deployment, and fielding of software solutions tailored to real-world operational needs. In this role, you will act as a senior technical counterpart to customer stakeholders — translating mission requirements into scalable software, navigating government technical environments, and ensuring capabilities are delivered reliably into production. You will collaborate closely with product, design, platform engineering, and mission teammates to deliver high-impact outcomes, while remaining a hands-on individual contributor.

What you'll do

• Architect, build, and own software solutions deployed directly to customer environments in support of mission-critical use cases
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customer stakeholders, engaging with senior technical leaders to understand mission needs and represent Vannevar’s technical approach
• Own end-to-end technical delivery for your mission workstreams, from requirements gathering and system design through implementation, deployment, and sustainment
• Contribute hands-on code to improve product capabilities, performance, and scalability across customer use cases
• Build software that enables users to unlock value from large-scale data holdings, including text, multimedia, and geospatial datasets spanning over 46 languages
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners — including engineers, product designers, and mission domain experts — to plan