Forward Deployed Engineer - US National Security
HybridDistrict of Columbia, United States
EXPIREDDistrict of Columbia, United StatesHybridFull TimeSmall
Full TimeSmall
Job Summary
Deploy TRM's platform into customer environments, ranging from cloud to air-gapped, and own the full outcome of integrations, data pipelines, and prototypes. Sit directly with mission users to translate requirements into working software, then act as the technical bridge carrying context back to product teams. Diagnose and resolve hard problems in constrained environments with limited tooling, often working as the sole engineer in the room. Ship application code, debug Kubernetes workloads, and design schemas while rapidly navigating bureaucratic hurdles to minimize delays.
Required Qualifications
- Strong programming ability in Python and/or Node.js/TypeScript
- Real fluency developing with AI — coding agents and LLM tooling
- Judgment about where AI helps and where it doesn't
- Hands-on Kubernetes: deploying, debugging and reasoning about real workloads
- Production AWS experience — building environments, not just consuming them
- Working fluency with relational databases (PostgreSQL or similar): schema design, query tuning, moving data around safely
- Concrete examples of delivering outside your primary specialty — a new language, datastore or platform you picked up because the project needed it
- Outstanding written and verbal communication
- Comfort in front of a customer regularly (not optional)
- AI fluency: among the top 10 percent of operators in your function in how you apply AI to accelerate repeatable workflows, structure and solve problems, improve output quality, and increase speed and leverage
- Impact-Oriented Trailblazer mindset: putting customers first, moving with speed, focus, and adaptability, treating every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly
- Master Craftsperson mindset: caring deeply about craft, balancing speed with high standards, owning outcomes end-to-end, and investing in getting better everyday
- Inspiring Colleague mindset: adding clarity and energy, not noise, bringing humility, candor, and a one-team mindset, giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger
- Comfort navigating ambiguity, adjusting course as new information emerges, and maintaining focus and positivity in a fast-moving and intense environment
- High level of personal ownership and accountability
- Creative problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking
- Ability to identify and diagnose critical on-site issues and land fixes in minutes to hours
- Ability to anticipate customer-side delays and find another path to approval
- Ability to flag anything that threatens a milestone within 24 hours
- Agreement to allow TRM Labs to process personal information in accordance with their Privacy Policy
- Agreement that the use of AI tools of any kind during TRM interviews is not permitted without prior approval from TRM
Desired Qualifications
- Infrastructure as code (Terraform) and GitOps (Argo CD)
- Data engineering at scale — orchestration, streaming, columnar/analytics stores
- Distributed systems design and debugging
- Building machine learning or agentic systems
- Deep Linux/Unix and networking, especially in restricted or disconnected environments
- Prior delivery inside classified or otherwise regulated government environments
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