Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Istari
Deployment Services
Digital twin technology
Be an early applicant
Digital twin technology
21-100 employees
Be an early applicant
21-100 employees
Company mission
To level the digital playing field.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate is a strong Python developer with database and API experience, comfortable working directly with customers, and capable of building reliable automation tooling under time pressure
- Minimum of 3 years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, or a technical customer-facing delivery role
- Strong Python development skills, including production scripts, automation tools, and data processing pipelines
- Hands-on experience with relational databases in production (PostgreSQL preferred), including queries, schema migrations, performance tuning, and backup/restore
- Working knowledge of REST APIs, including building integrations, debugging connectivity, and reading API documentation
- Experience with Kubernetes at an operational level (deploying and troubleshooting workloads, reading logs, understanding pod lifecycle)
- Familiarity with identity and authentication systems (OAuth, OIDC, SAML, LDAP) at a configuration level
- Experience working directly with external customers in a technical capacity
- Strong troubleshooting skills, able to trace issues across application logs, database queries, and service configurations
- Clear written and verbal communication skills for customer-facing interactions
- U.S. Citizen
Desirable
- Experience with graph databases (Dgraph, Neo4j, or similar), including queries, schema design, and performance optimization
- Experience with Keycloak or other open-source identity providers (administration, realm configuration, user federation)
- Experience with AWS services (S3, IAM, KMS, RDS) or equivalent Azure experience
- Familiarity with Helm charts and Kubernetes application deployment
- Experience writing data migration tooling for production systems with rollback capabilities
- Experience with TypeScript/Node.js in addition to Python
- Familiarity with compliance or security frameworks such as FedRAMP, NIST, CMMC, or similar
- Experience supporting defense, aerospace, or government customers
- Experience with monitoring and observability tools (CloudWatch, Grafana, Prometheus)
- Industry certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect Associate, CompTIA (Security+), or similar
- Active security clearance (Secret or Top Secret)
What the job involves
- We are seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to join our Deployment Services team within Customer Success
- This role focuses on application-layer platform work: Python automation, database operations, API integration, data migration tooling, and backend service configuration for customer environments
- This engineer will work alongside Senior Solutions Engineers to deliver platform services to defense, aerospace, and commercial customers
- Where the Solutions Engineer leads agent/module integration and Dgraph operations, this role owns the data and API layer: writing migration scripts, managing database operations, configuring backend services, building automation tooling, and integrating platform APIs
- Our customers operate in regulated, security-sensitive environments across AWS, Azure, GovCloud, on-premises Kubernetes, and air-gapped networks
- Write and maintain data migration scripts for customer identity transitions (Zitadel to Keycloak), multi-tenancy data migrations, and schema changes
- Manage database operations across customer environments, including PostgreSQL administration, Dgraph query optimization, schema migrations, data integrity verification, and performance tuning
- Configure and validate backend platform services per customer requirements: Identity Service, Keycloak, AI Chat, and service integrations
- Build and maintain Python automation tooling for repeatable deployment and configuration tasks
- Integrate platform APIs for customer-specific workflows, including authentication flows, data exchange endpoints, and service configuration
- Configure identity provider integrations per customer requirements (Keycloak, SAML, OIDC, SSO with PingFederate, Okta, Azure AD)
- Troubleshoot application-layer issues in customer environments, including service configuration, database performance, API connectivity, and authentication failures
- Support agent and module deployment alongside the Solutions Engineer, including configuration validation, backend connectivity, and module integration testing
- Coordinate with customer engineering teams on service configuration requirements, data migration schedules, and validation
- Maintain migration runbooks, service configuration documentation, and customer environment notes based on field experience
Our take
In the realm of digital engineering, industries like aerospace, defense, and manufacturing face significant challenges. Traditional methods of designing, testing, and certifying complex systems are often time-consuming, costly, and environmentally taxing. These processes typically require physical prototypes and extensive real-world testing, leading to delays and increased resource consumption.
Istari is transforming this landscape by developing a platform that enables the creation, testing, and certification of technologies entirely in the digital real. Its advanced digital twin technology allows for virtual simulations and modeling, reducing the need for physical prototypes. This approach not only accelerates development timelines but also minimizes costs and environmental impact.
Its making major progress too, including the $19M contract with the US Air Force to help develop the world's first digitally certified aircraft. While the use of digital twins in military applications (especially with potential links to autonomous systems) can raise valid ethical concerns, Istari's focus is on safety, precision, and reducing the need for real-world testing that can be risky or wasteful. By improving how complex systems are designed and certified, its aiming to make engineering across industries more efficient and sustainable.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (1 round)
Feb 2023
$13m
SEED
Total funding: $13m
Company HQ
Crystal City, Arlington, VA
Leadership
Will Roper
(CEO)Will is a Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgia Institute of Technology as well as an Honorary Group Capital at the RAF.
Christopher Benson
(CTO)Christopher has worked at the United States Air Force since 2014 and currently serves as a Senior System Engineer. Previously founded ELLO, AFWERX, StartLabs, and Ring Theory.
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