{"id":1577454,"url":"https://alion.io/job/swarm-forward-deployed-engineer","title":"Forward Deployed Engineer","company":{"id":3847913,"name":"Swarm","domain":"swarm.aero","url":"https://alion.io/company/swarm-7","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":null},"role":"Solutions","role_family":"Solutions","seniority":"middle","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"inferred","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":175000,"max":220000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":220000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"DNS","optional":false},{"name":"Go","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":true},{"name":"Docker","optional":true},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-11T21:48:12Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-11","last_verified_at":"2026-10-04T22:43:05Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":23,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":23},"description":"Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.\nThe team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.\nAbout the Role\nMost software engineers never see their code tested against reality. At Swarm Aero, that's the baseline.\nWe are looking for a Forward Deployed Software Engineer to embed directly with U.S. government and military customers and own the technical success of our C2 systems in the field. You will be the person who makes our software work -- not in a lab, not in a staging environment, but in real operational contexts across domestic and international deployments. Austere locations, high-stakes timelines, and complex distributed systems are the job.\nThis is a full-scope engineering role. You will build critical integrations, debug core services, contribute to new development, and ship solutions that warfighters and government operators depend on. If you want to write code that matters and see it run in environments most engineers never touch, this is the role.\nWhat You'll Do\nBuild and own critical software integrations that bring our C2 systems to life in customer environments -- from initial deployment through production reliability across diverse hardware configurations and operational contexts\n\nDebug complex distributed systems issues in the field, analyzing logs, network traffic, and system performance to resolve failures fast and with minimal support\n\nContribute to core service development alongside the engineering team, bringing field insight back into the product and shipping improvements that make a direct operational difference\n\nWrite code daily across the full stack -- solving customer-specific integration challenges, contributing to core service development, and building monitoring and reliability solutions that hold up in the field\n\nSupport continuous operational environments, including non-standard hours, on-call response, and rotational coverage aligned to mission tempo\n\nTravel domestically and internationally (up to 75%) to test sites and customer locations -- deploying software, troubleshooting issues in the field, and feeding hard-won requirements back to engineering\n\nCollaborate with U.S. military and government program offices on-site and remotely, translating complex operational requirements into software solutions\n\nThis Role Is For You If\nYou want to see your code run in high-stakes, real-world environments -- not just pass CI\n\nYou thrive on solving hard integration and deployment challenges independently, without a safety net\n\nYou're comfortable being the most technical person in the room in dynamic, unpredictable field conditions\n\nYou adapt to shifting schedules and operational demands without losing rigor or precision\n\nThis Role Is NOT\nA pilot position or flight test engineer role\n\nPrimarily hands-on hardware work (electronics, wiring, mechanical assembly)\n\nA traditional SRE or DevOps role with predictable hours and controlled environments\n\nBasic Qualifications\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field\n\n3+ years of professional software engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated ability\n\nStrong proficiency in at least one major programming language (Python, C/C++, Golang, or Java)\n\nSolid understanding of networking fundamentals: NAT, DNS/mDNS, UDP/TCP protocols, multicast, and firewall configuration\n\nExperience with Linux system administration and shell scripting\n\nProven debugging skills across complex software systems -- you know how to read logs, use debuggers, and trace issues systematically\n\nExcellent communication skills for engaging with U.S. government and military customers and internal engineering teams\n\nWillingness and ability to travel 60% of the time, both domestically and internationally, including to remote or restricted-access locations\n\nMust be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance. Active Secret clearance preferred but not required.\n\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and infrastructure-as-code\n\nBackground in distributed systems, real-time systems, or robotics software\n\nFamiliarity with CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation\n\nExperience in customer-facing engineering or technical sales engineering roles\n\nPrior defense, intelligence community, or aerospace software experience\n\nComfort operating in non-permissive or resource-constrained environments\n\nITAR requirement\nTo conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.\nSwarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.\nWhat We Offer\nMeaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company\n\nCompetitive base salary commensurate with experience\n\nMedical, dental, vision, and 401k\n\nPTO and paid sick leave\n\nMonthly wellness stipend\n\nDaily catered lunch (office)\n\nPaid parental leave\n\nDirect impact on a critical national security mission\n\nA world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems","description_format":"text","description_chars":5871,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Equity","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-01T10:51:08Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":70,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.779,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":22,"expected_fill_days":34,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-04T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":220000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/swarm-forward-deployed-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/swarm-forward-deployed-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-05T00:51:50Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1057,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":3943,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-06T00:00:00Z"}}}