Title of Role: Cleared Forward-Deployed Engineer
Location: Berkeley, CA (50-75% travel expected)
Company Stage of Funding: Seed Stage
Office Type: Onsite
Salary: $200,000 - $500,000 + equity (1-3%)
We are partnering with an early-stage security startup working at the forefront of protecting AI data centers. Backed by security leaders from top AI labs, cybersecurity firms, and government advisors, the company builds FPGA-based switches and secure infrastructure to safeguard some of the world’s most sensitive AI model assets in data centers and government environments.
You will work directly with government clients and classified environments, handling integration, deployment, and support of security solutions that protect AI assets. You’ll gather customer requirements, install and configure systems on-site, navigate government security protocols, and communicate customer needs back to the engineering team. Over time, you’ll help scale deployments and grow the government-facing engineering function.
2+ years of experience as a forward-deployed or customer-facing engineer, preferably in government or defense environments.
Experience at high-caliber companies in agile hardware (e.g., SpaceX, Anduril), AI labs (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepMind, Meta), AI hardware (Nvidia, Intel), or elite government/military organizations (IDF, CIA, NSA).
Strong system integration skills, with proven ability to iterate and ship quickly.
Holds active US TS/SCI security clearance.
Familiarity with low-level software (C, Rust), FPGA/hardware engineering, or confidential computing.
Proven ML research or engineering experience.
History of strong customer discovery skills and ability to navigate government bureaucracy.
Portfolio demonstrating past technical projects or competition success (e.g., math/coding/hacking medals).
Competitive salary ($200k - $500k) depending on fit and seniority.
Equity (1-3%).
Opportunity to build and deploy security systems for sensitive government AI infrastructure.
Work alongside a top-tier founding team in a high-stakes mission-driven environment.
Travel required (50-75%) with direct impact on national security and frontier AI projects.