Forward Deployed Engineer (Delta)
Belisar
About the role
Position: Forward Deployed Engineer (Delta)
Location: Boston, NYC, Washington DC (On-Site)
About Belisar
Belisar is the CRM designed for government contracting. It enables the best technology to win, fusing internal context, intuitive AI, and real-time data into a unified view of the market.
Federal contracting has long run on tools that were never built for it: Generic CRMs designed for commercial sales, legacy data platforms that surface noise instead of signal, and institutional knowledge locked in spreadsheets and inboxes. Belisar unifies all the important intelligence into a single, AI-native platform — so teams can see opportunities earlier, move faster, and win the work that matters.
Belisar is backed by a16z and trusted by leading defense, space, and government leaders including Boeing, Forterra, Scout AI, Vannevar Labs, Aevex, and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).
Together, we're building toward one outcome: The best technology wins, and it reaches the missions that need it most.
The Role
Forward Deployed Engineers at Belisar are the rare engineers who are equally at home in a terminal and in a customer briefing. You will live at the boundary between our product and the hardest operational problems in the federal ecosystem: understanding user needs, implementing product, connecting integrations, and writing code to deliver on the most important outcomes for a customer within the defense space.
FDEs are builders who also sit close to the customer, accelerating time-to-value for new deployments, and solving problems that no one has fully defined yet. We are looking for product-minded engineers who are energized by constraints, thrive under ambiguity, and find deep satisfaction in seeing their work create real-world impact, not just ship.
What You’ll Do
Deploy and configure the Belisar platform in customer environments, including data ingestion pipelines, integrations, and custom workflow automation
Write production-quality code (scripts, APIs, and lightweight applications) to extend platform capabilities and solve customer-specific problems
Integrate Belisar with third-party data sources, government systems, and customer infrastructure
Diagnose and resolve technical issues rapidly in the field, with limited access to core infrastructure or remote support
Translate operational requirements from non-technical stakeholders into clean technical specifications and working software
Build tooling, templates, and reusable components that accelerate future deployments
Partner with the product engineering team to surface field-discovered bugs, feature gaps, and architecture feedback
Own technical relationships with customer engineers, data teams, and IT/security leads
Contribute to internal knowledge bases, deployment playbooks, and engineering documentation
What We’re Looking For
2+ years of software engineering / forward deployed engineering experience, with a strong foundation in at least one backend language (Python, Go, Java, or similar), at a top tier-startup, enterprise, or your own projects
Hands-on experience deploying or integrating software in complex, real-world environments, not just greenfield development
Fluency with data: SQL, ETL pipelines, REST APIs, and working with structured and unstructured data sources
Strong debugging instincts and the ability to diagnose problems across the full stack, including infrastructure and networking layers
A customer mindset: you understand that the best technical solution is the one that actually gets used
Exceptional written and verbal communication: you can explain a complex system to a program manager and a junior analyst in the same conversation
Experience working in or alongside the federal government, defense, or intelligence community is a strong plus
Qualifications
Located in or willing to relocate to Washington DC. This is a fully on-site position.
US Person required
Veterans and those with military or intelligence community backgrounds strongly encouraged to apply
Willingness for regular customer travel
Benefits
Belisar offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:
Competitive salary and meaningful equity
Platinum healthcare: comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage fully covered for employees and dependents
Basic Life/AD&D and long-term disability insurance fully covered, with the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents
Relocation assistance available
Responsibilities
- Deploy and configure the platform, including data pipelines, integrations, and workflow automation.
- Write production-quality code to extend the platform and solve customer-specific problems.
- Integrate with third-party data sources, government systems, and customer infrastructure.
- Diagnose and resolve technical issues in customer environments.
- Translate operational needs into technical specifications and working software.
- Build reusable deployment tools, templates, and components.
- Share field feedback and technical insights with product and engineering teams.
- Own technical relationships with customer engineering, data, and IT/security teams.
Qualifications
- At least 2 years of software engineering or forward deployed engineering experience.
- Strong foundation in a backend language such as Python, Go, or Java.
- Experience deploying or integrating software in complex real-world environments.
- Fluency with SQL, ETL pipelines, REST APIs, and structured and unstructured data.
- Strong debugging skills across software, infrastructure, and networking.
- Customer-focused approach and excellent written and verbal communication.
- Must be a US Person and located in or willing to relocate to Washington, DC.
- Willingness to travel regularly to customer sites.
Benefits
- Competitive salary and meaningful equity.
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage fully covered for employees and dependents.
- Basic life and AD&D insurance and long-term disability coverage fully covered.
- Optional additional life insurance for employees and dependents.
- Relocation assistance available.