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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Forward Deployed AI Engineer - **Company:** Defense, Llc - **Location:** San Antonio, TX, United States (Remote available) - **Experience:** Experienced - **Salary:** $123,250.0 - $201,250.0 - **Contract:** Temporary contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Continuous Delivery, Extract Transform Load (ETL), Software Design Patterns, Information Retrieval, Python (Programming Language), NoSQL, Open Source Technology, Parsing, Commercial Software, Software Engineering, SQL Databases, Systems Architecture, Systems Integration, TypeScript, Pulumi, Data Processing, Cloud Platform System, Large Language Models, Generative AI, Backend, Kubernetes, Production Code, Build Tools, Search Engines, Terraform, Data Pipelines - **Published:** June 20, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=07070bc3c705ab9f ## About the Role Do you have experience in Systems integration?, 3+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience (backend or full-stack), ideally in customer-facing or government environments (DoD, intelligence, public sector) or analogous high-assurance contexts. Strong backend engineering skills: production-grade code in Python or TypeScript; deep familiarity with designing services, APIs, data pipelines, integrations, and backend frameworks. Familiarity with LLMs or generative AI systems - be able to explain the fundamentals of Context Engineering and understand how model behavior connects to product/mission experience, and how AI capabilities integrate into larger system architectures. Strong ability to work in ambiguity: define scope, sequence work, make trade-offs between speed, quality, and scope; remove blockers; deliver under pressure in dynamic mission-driven settings. Excellent communication skills: able to translate complex technical details into clear messaging for non-technical stakeholders; work cross-functionally; build relationships with customers and internal teams. Mission-oriented mindset. Have an understanding that our work is supporting the defense and freedom of the nation., * Experience with deploying applications on Kubernetes inside of air-gapped or secure environments. * Experience with Information Retrieval fundamentals including knowledge of keyword and vector based search, document parsing and chunking, document reranking, and SQL/NoSQL search engines. * Experience with developing, executing, and maintaining LLM evaluations. * Experience with open source LLM or SLM models (Llama3, Mixtral, Gemma, Phi) including inference frameworks, structured output, fine-tuning, and model architecture reconfiguration. ## Description Embed with strategic customers as a technical partner, working from problem discovery to solution implementation and customer adoption. * Architect, build, deploy, and operate agentic Generative AI systems: APIs, data processing ETL pipelines, integration layers, Retrieval Augmented Generation, and context engineering. Work in cloud, on-prem, and edge/air-gapped environments to ensure software can run where the mission demands. Prototype and deploy systems leveraging the core products and design patterns of the Unicorn Delivery Service (UDS); bring back insights from the field for continuous product improvement . Scope, sequence, and lead delivery of solutions: define living roadmaps, set priorities, trade off speed vs quality vs scope, work across internal teams and customer stakeholders to drive clarity and remove blockers early. Codify reusable patterns for mission environments: build tools, internal frameworks, playbooks so future deployments are faster, safer, and repeatable. Act as the technical face to customer leadership: communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, build trust, manage expectations, and ensure successful scale and mission adoption. This is a customer-facing role. Ability and interest to travel up as needed to client sites, but flexible based on personal preferences., As a Forward Deployed AI Engineer at Defense Unicorns, you will directly contribute to accelerating warfighter capability. By working at the intersection of backend software engineering, secure delivery platforms, and mission-driven deployments, you'll help deliver software updates in minutes instead of months - enabling operational advantage, agility, and freedom for the nation. You will not just build code - you'll deploy impact where it matters most., Defense Unicorns' customers are mission-focused leaders across public and private enterprises. We proudly support defense and civil agencies across the U.S. government and we work closely with the creators of leading-edge software solutions to deliver value to the mission-owner by improving the security and consumability of commercial software products., * Cloud Environments (AWS/GCP and Azure) * Infrastructure-as-code (like Terraform/Pulumi) * Continuous Delivery and automation tooling * GitOps * Containers * CNCF projects and open source products and packages * Helm/Kustomize-Value Stream Mapping * Building and improving security delivery * Building Kubernetes and cloud native applications ## Related Videos - [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops) - [Tips and Tricks for Working with JSON](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1229-tips-and-tricks-for-working-with-json) - [Unleashing Potential Across Teams: The Power of Infrastructure as Code](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/930-unleashing-potential-across-teams-the-power-of-infrastructure-as-code) - [Leveraging Real time data in FSIs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/806-leveraging-real-time-data-in-fsis) - [Building a Compiler with C#](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/116-building-a-compiler-with-c) - [Terraform for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/3-terraform-for-developers) ## Related Articles - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [What Are Large Language Models?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/304-what-are-large-language-models) - [MLOps And AI Driven Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/82-mlops-and-ai-driven-development) - [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [From Prototype to Production: Build AI Agents with This Free 4-Course Learning Path](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/655-from-prototype-to-production-build-ai-agents-with-this-free-4-course-learning-path)