Senior Forward Deployed Engineer - Implementation Focus

About this role

Second Front Systems is looking for an operationally experienced, technically rigorous Senior Forward Deployed Engineer - Implementation to strengthen our implementation function across federal deployments.

Operating at forward-deployed environments where Game Warden onboarding determines mission readiness, you will be responsible for owning technical success of complex customer implementations, establishing implementation standards, and translating field friction into platform improvements.

You will lead highest-stakes onboarding engagements, mentor Implementation Engineers on configuration and troubleshooting, and partner with Product and Platform Engineering to harden deployment processes, ensuring that customers achieve secure, accredited Game Warden deployments on schedule and Implementation Engineers operate from documented, tested procedures.

We need someone capable of managing multi-week onboarding engagements with minimal support, where integration failures create operational risk; diagnosing configuration and infrastructure issues across classified and unclassified networks, and documenting root causes as permanent fixes; and building consensus between field realities and product roadmap decisions, translating warfighter constraints into engineering requirements.

As a key partner to product, Platform Engineering, and Federal Sales leadership, you will reduce post-deployment support costs, compress onboarding timelines, and accelerate customer accreditation by embedding lessons learned into the platform, serving as the technical authority who ensures Game Warden deployments succeed in contested environments.

Note: Candidates must reside in one of our approved hiring hubs: • DC/Maryland/Virginia • Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC • Denver/Colorado Springs, CO • Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

What You'll Do

• Own the technical strategy and execution for 2F's most complex and highest-visibility customer deployment implementations, including first-of-kind application onboardings and multi-agency or multi-enclave rollouts.

• Serve as the senior-most subject matter expert on Second Front products across Implementation, building the internal enablement materials and technical playbooks the rest of the team relies on.

• Own and continuously improve onboarding and customer support processes across the Implementation function — identifying systemic friction and driving it out with better tooling, documentation, or automation rather than one-off fixes.

• Lead onboarding of customer applications into GameWarden for security scanning, including the technically hardest cases — legacy architectures, unusual dependency chains, or non-standard compliance postures.

• Partner directly with Product and Platform Engineering leadership, feeding implementation-pattern insights into the platform roadmap.

• Architect and configure complex cloud-based customer deployments across AWS, GCP, and Azure, making design decisions other engineers on the team will follow as precedent.

• Resolve escalations from other Implementation Engineers, unblocking stalled deployments and coaching them through novel technical problems.

• Represent 2F technically in front of senior customer stakeholders and program managers, and collaborate cross-functionally with Sales and Platform Engineering throughout the customer lifecycle.

What You Bring

• 8–10+ years of experience in software engineering, DevOps, cloud engineering, or implementation/deployment engineering, with demonstrated ownership of complex, production-grade deployments (not just execution of defined tasks).

• Advanced Linux installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance expertise, including hands-on hardening and support of on-premises hardware at scale.

• Deep DevSecOps tooling and practices knowledge, with experience building or maturing implementation/onboarding processes rather than only following them.

• Strong communication under pressure, with a track record of leading technical conversations directly with senior customer stakeholders during high-stakes deployments.

• Demonstrated mentorship and technical leadership of other engineers, including acting as an escalation point on difficult problems.

• A track record of diagnosing and resolving integration friction between customer legacy systems and modern software stacks, with judgment about when and more importantly, how to push back on customer architecture versus when to engineer around constraints.

• DoD Top Secret/SCI clearance eligibility required; active or interim clearance strongly preferred.

• Ability to travel up to 25%.

Preferred

The base salary for this position will fall between $160,000 and $190,000. Your ultimate compensation will be determined by professional background, technical proficiency, seniority, and regional cost factors. Furthermore, this opportunity includes potential eligibility for equity awards and discretionary bonuses, rounding out a comprehensive total rewards offering.

SUCCESS AT 2F LOOKS LIKE:

- Viewing obstacles as opportunities for growth

- Having a bias toward action and tangible, measurable results

- Striving to be both compassionate and direct with your feedback

- Being team-oriented and inclusive with your action

PERKS & BENEFITS:

This role is a full time position. As a public benefit corporation, we’re a team of purpose-driven trailblazers transforming the future of U.S. national security. We hire the best to do their best and, as such, we are committed to providing the perks and benefits you need to be successful—both in- and outside the workplace.

We offer you:

- Competitive Salary

- 100% Healthcare, vision and dental coverage

- 401(k) + 3% company contribution

- Additional benefit perks (One Medical membership, mental health resources and family planning assistance)

- Equity incentive plan

- Tech + office supplies stipend

- Annual professional development stipend

- Flexible paid time off + federal

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