Forward Deployed Software Engineer

Air

Arlington, Virginia, United States · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States · RemoteFull-timePosted Oct 20, 2026

About the role

Company Description

Air is the leader in Enterprise Readiness. Our mission is to establish readiness as a real-time condition that is continuously achieved. Today, a dangerous Readiness Gap exists between what the front line needs and what is delivered. Our AI-native platform, Air Enterprise Readiness, aligns development, production, delivery, and sustainment into one coordinated execution system for government agencies and industrial suppliers. By revealing true capacity, exposing real constraints, coordinating resources, and executing at the speed of operational demands, the front line gets what it needs to succeed.

Job Description

We are seeking self-starting, customer-value-oriented software engineers to join our Forward Deployed Engineering team. As a Forward Deployed Software Engineer at Air, you are accountable for building new and differentiated 0-to-1 capabilities, in the field with our customers, end to end. You are motivated by moving quickly but responsibly against urgent and compelling opportunities to deliver valuable software-driven outcomes to our customers. The idea of building something new energizes you and want to work on problems that matter, and you want to own. You understand and appreciate the value of face-to-face interactions with end users, and constantly seek to push the boundaries of what is possible.

In order to do this job well, you must be a curious and eager problem solver. You must possess exceptional judgment when it comes to balancing competing priorities and making tradeoffs. You must be flexible, you must value outcomes over process, you must thrive in ambiguous environments, and above all else focus on solving valuable problems for our customers.

In a typical week, the individual who fills this position could expect to:

  • Spend the day onsite with users, listening to problems and asking questions seeking to understand pain points
  • Collaborate with product managers and designers to scope, architect, and deliver 0-to-1 product initiatives and prototypes.
  • Build and deliver working, customer-facing prototypes.
  • Assess, prioritize, and correct the most important gaps in prototype solutions under development based on user feedback and in partnership with product managers
  • Fail often, iterate quickly, and try again

This role is a full-time position located out of our office in Arlington, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, or Remote.

This role may require up to 50% travel.

Scope of Responsibilities

Conduct customer site visits to diagnose and understand pain points

Participate in the end-to-end software development of new feature functionality and design capabilities

Iterate quickly to progressively unlock customer value

Craft clean, testable, and maintainable code

Qualifications

U.S. Citizenship is required

Required Skills:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field, or equivalent work experience

1+ years of front-end or back-end software development experience (SQL, Java and/or Typescript/React)

Ability to work independently with little supervision

A burning desire to work in a challenging, fast-paced tech environment

Desired Skills:

Current possession of a U.S. security clearance or the ability to obtain one with our sponsorship

Experience in or exposure to the nuances of a startup or other entrepreneurial environment

Experience working within the boundaries of a federally accredited software environment

Experience in or exposure to the nuances of a startup or other entrepreneurial environment

Experience working in a customer-facing or consulting role

We firmly believe that past performance is the best indicator of future performance. If you thrive while building solutions to complex problems, are a self-starter, and are passionate about making an impact in global security, we’re eager to hear from you.

Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Responsibilities

  • Visit customer sites to understand user needs and pain points
  • Collaborate with product managers and designers to scope, architect, and deliver new product capabilities
  • Build and iterate on customer-facing prototypes based on user feedback
  • Develop new software features and design capabilities end to end
  • Write clean, testable, and maintainable code

Qualifications

  • U.S. citizenship required
  • Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience
  • At least 1 year of front-end or back-end software development experience
  • Experience with SQL, Java, and/or TypeScript/React
  • Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment
  • Willingness to travel up to 50%
  • Security clearance or ability to obtain one is desired
  • Customer-facing, consulting, startup, or federally accredited software experience is desired

Skills mentioned

JavaTypeScriptReactSQLFrontend DevelopmentBackend DevelopmentSystem DesignSoftware TestingUnit TestingGit

About Air

Air (formerly Govini) created Enterprise Readiness, a new category of AI-native platforms that close the Readiness Gap, a dangerous chasm between what the front line needs and what the national security enterprise delivers. Air Enterprise Readiness platform aligns development, production, delivery, and sustainment into one coordinated execution system, revealing true capacity, exposing real constraints, coordinating resources, and executing at the speed of operational demands. The result: the enterprise has what it needs to succeed. Air has offices in Arlington, Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Software Development201-500 employeesArlington, Virginia