Forward Deployed Software Engineer (FDSE)

Job Description

Job Description

A growing national security technology company is seeking multiple Forward Deployed Software Engineers to support an onsite data and analytics program at the Pentagon.

This role is built for someone who can take messy, disconnected, or incomplete data and turn it into something a real decision-maker can use. You will work directly with government users and technical teams to build production-ready data products, including pipelines, data models, dashboards, workflows, and applications.

Palantir Maven or Foundry experience is helpful, but it is not required. The platform can be taught. What matters most is whether you have personally built, structured, integrated, or improved data-driven tools that were used by non-technical customers to make operational decisions.

Strong candidates may come from traditional data engineering or software engineering backgrounds, but we are also interested in professionals who developed hands-on data skills through cyber, SIGINT, GEOINT, intelligence, operations research, business intelligence, analytics, or other operational environments.

What You'll Do:

• Build and maintain data pipelines, data models, dashboards, workflows, and user-facing applications
• Integrate data from multiple systems and transform messy or unreliable data into useful, decision-ready products
• Work directly with government stakeholders to understand how data will be used and what decisions it needs to support
• Design data structures, schemas, and relationships that accurately reflect the operational environment
• Diagnose pipeline failures, data-quality issues, and problems introduced by upstream systems or transformations
• Develop scripts, services, integrations, or applications using Python, Java, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL, or similar technologies
• Support deployment, testing, documentation, configuration, and continued product improvement
• Learn and apply Palantir Maven, Foundry, and related tools as needed

Required Qualifications:

• Active Secret clearance
• Ability to work onsite at the Pentagon
• U.S. citizenship
• Hands-on experience in data engineering, analytics engineering, software development, business intelligence, cyber analytics, intelligence data, systems engineering, or a related technical area
• Experience personally building or owning a data product, pipeline, model, dashboard, workflow, application, or technical tool
• Experience working with raw, incomplete, inconsistent, or unreliable data
• Proficiency with one or more languages or technologies such as Python, Java, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL, Power BI, ArcGIS, SIEM platforms, or similar tools
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work with both technical and non-technical users
• Ability to operate effectively when requirements are incomplete and improve solutions through iteration

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Palantir Foundry, Maven, Army Vantage, AIP, Ontology, Workshop, Slate, or related Palantir products
• Experience building production data pipelines or applications used by operational customers
• Experience designing data models, schemas, ontologies, entity relationships, or reporting structures
• Experience tracing data lineage and resolving upstream data-quality problems
• Experience supporting DoD, military, intelligence, or federal customers
• Experience working in classified or secure environments
• Familiarity with APIs, Git, CI/CD, cloud environments, data visualization, or modern software-development practices
• Background in data engineering, BI development, cyber intelligence, detection engineering, SIGINT, GEOINT, ORSA, or data science

What a Strong Candidate Looks Like:

A strong candidate can point to something they personally built and clearly explain:

• Who used it
• What decision or action it supported
• What they personally owned
• How they worked through messy data or unclear requirements
• What could have gone wrong if the data or product was inaccurate

The strongest candidates talk about the data structure and operational problem behind the product, not just the tools or visualizations they used.

Education:

A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline is preferred. Relevant technical, military, intelligence, or operational experience may be considered in place of a degree.

About the Opportunity:

This is an opportunity to build data products that support real decisions inside one of the nation's most important operational environments. You will join an experienced team that can train strong engineers on Palantir Maven and Foundry while giving them direct exposure to complex government data and mission users.