Forward Deployed Engineer

Advanced Navigation is the world’s most determined innovator in AI robotics and navigation technologies across land, air, sea and space applications. Founded on a culture of research and discovery, Advanced Navigation's mission is to be the catalyst of the autonomy revolution. Fields of expertise include artificial intelligence, underwater sonar, GNSS, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, robotics, quantum sensors and photonics.

Today, Advanced Navigation is a supplier to some of the world's largest companies, including Airbus, Boeing, Google, Tesla, NASA, Apple, and General Motors. Discover it for yourself: https://youtu.be/F7uAqs1gtuk

About the role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Advanced Navigation, you will sit at the point where our navigation technology meets the real world. Working hands-on with customers - often on their sites, in their labs and alongside their vehicles and platforms - you will integrate our inertial navigation systems (INS), GNSS receivers and Fibre Optic Gyroscope (FOG) based solutions into customer systems, and make sure they perform under the most demanding conditions.

Moreover, you will support the sales team in ensuring customer satisfaction by managing timelines and providing clients with regular updates on project progress. Your role will be crucial in facilitating technical implementations and resolving product issues and escalations, all aimed at achieving the highest levels of client satisfaction.

This is a customer-facing team. You will run field trials, analyse navigation data, debug integration issues end to end and turn what you learn into working solutions for the customer and actionable feedback for our Product and R&D teams You will also provide onsite as well as online support to customer either in a pre-sales context or post-sales. You will support the sales team with technical credibility during evaluations, then carry that momentum through deployment so that customers reach value quickly and stay successful.

You will own delivery for a portfolio of customer deployments under the general direction Forward Deployed Engineering Manager, with a clear path to growing into a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer or Technical Lead.

What you'll do

• Customer Deployment and Integration: Engage with prospects and customers to assess their geospatial navigation requirements and business objectives. Leverage your expertise in geospatial technologies, including GNSS (global navigation satellite system) and INS (inertial navigation system), to recommend solutions that address their specific needs and deliver measurable value. Collaborate with the sales team to design and customise solutions that align with customer requirements and differentiate our offerings in the market.
• Product Demonstrations and Presentations: Conduct compelling product demonstrations and presentations to showcase the capabilities, features, and benefits of our geospatial navigation solutions. Tailor presentations to highlight the unique value proposition of our offerings and demonstrate how they address customer pain points and business challenges. Effectively communicate complex geospatial concepts and technical details to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Customer Deployment and Integration: Embed with customer engineering teams to integrate Advanced Navigation products (INS, GNSS/INS, FOG-based systems) into their platforms across land, air, maritime and robotics applications. Configure, mount, align and tune systems; resolve interface, timing, communications-protocol and environmental issues until the solution performs in the customer’s real operating conditions.
• Field Trials and Proof of Concept (PoC) Execution: Plan and run field tests, trials and PoCs with customers. Help define success criteria, collect and analyse position, velocity, acceleration and orientation data against reference truth, and present clear, evidence-based results to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Voice of the Customer: Capture real-world usage, gaps and feature requests from the field and feed them back to Product and R&D in a structured, prioritised way. Contribute to product documentation, application notes, integration guides and internal knowledge bases.
• Collaboration and Relationship Building: Foster strong relationships with cross-functional teams, including sales, product development, marketing, and customer success, to ensure alignment and seamless execution of pre-sales activities. Act as a trusted advisor to customers, providing expert guidance and support throughout the sales cycle to build credibility and trust. Maintain regular communication with customers to address questions, concerns, and technical inquiries, ensuring a positive pre-sales experience.
• Growth:

o Growing & developing with the Company as Advanced Navigation continues to evolve;

o Taking on additional duties & tasks, as directed, as the position evolves.

• Develop a solid operational understanding of all aspects within the Company:

o Immersing yourself into the team & wider organisation to develop an understanding of how each role & team all contribute to our strategic vision.

• Live by our values:

o Set quantifiable targets that demonstrate your commitment to our values.

• Safety:

o Live & breathe a safety culture;

o Be an advocate for safety within the workplace;

o Remain compliant with all HSE requirements & obligations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field (Masters preferred). 3-5 years of relevant experience.
• 3+ years of experience in a pre-sales or technical sales role, preferably within the technology industry.
• Solid technical knowledge of inertial navigation systems, GNSS, and fiber optic gyroscopes.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Proven track record of driving successful sales outcomes, building customer relationships, and delivering exceptional service.
• Customer-focused mindset with a passion for problem-solving, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Customer-facing role, with a balanced capability across pre-sales, implementation, and support functions
• A dedication to delivering a great customer experience while being a creative problem-solver in response to technical, product, and business questions
• Experience working in support environments using integrated CRM systems as well as tools such as Matlab for data analysis.
• Enjoyment in being in a fast-paced environment, to help customers accelerate their journey to creating an accurate position, velocity, acceleration and orientation under the most demanding conditions
• A collaborative and team-oriented mindset for accomplishing goals
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Other languages are advantageous.
• Strong experience in Python (preferred) and/or Matlab (less preferred) for data analysis. Any other scripting tool is also advantageous.
• Excellent time management, driven to work quickly
• Strong attention to detail
• Effective presentation crafting and delivery skills
• Willingness to travel and work hands-on in field environments (up to 25 % of the time)