Principal Software Engineer, Field Engineering

About the role

Raft (https://TeamRaft.com) is a customer-obsessed non-traditional defense tech company dedicated to empowering U.S. military and government agencies with cutting-edge AI/ML and data solutions. We are a leader in autonomous data fusion and Agentic AI, with a purposeful focus on Distributed Data Systems, Platforms at Scale, and Complex Application Development. With headquarters in McLean, VA, our range of clients includes innovative federal and public agencies leveraging design thinking, cutting-edge tech stack, and cloud-native ecosystem. We build digital solutions that impact the lives of millions of Americans. Our product suite, [R]DP (Raft Data Platform), [R]AIMS (Raft AI Mission System), and [R]AP (Raft Application Platform), is being fielded across the U.S. Army and joint force to power data fusion, AI/ML, and mission applications at the tactical and operational edge. We are looking for an experienced Principal Software Engineer to be embedded with our Army customers at Aberdeen Proving Ground, serving as Raft's senior technical presence on the ground: someone who can write production code in the morning, troubleshoot a Kubernetes deployment in a SCIF in the afternoon, and brief a program office on fielding status before end of day. As Principal Software Engineer, Field Engineering, you are Raft's embedded technical lead at Aberdeen Proving Ground. You will work directly with Army customers, program offices, and partner integrators to deploy, integrate, and operationalize [R]DP, [R]AIMS, and [R]AP in their environments. You are a software engineer first. The field engineering context means your work has immediate operational impact, but between integration cycles you are writing code, building tooling, and contributing features back to the core product. This is not a testing role or a pure DevOps role. You are expected to understand the software you are deploying at a deep enough level to diagnose it, improve it, and in some cases extend it. You will operate at the intersection of software development, DevSecOps, Kubernetes-native infrastructure, and Army data integration, with the autonomy to make calls in the field and the discipline to pull in the broader Raft team when the situation demands it. You will partner closely with Raft's product, platform, and delivery teams to ensure our products are fielded well: installed cleanly, integrated with Army data sources and mission systems, observable in production, and easy for operators and downstream developers to use.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Raft's embedded senior technical lead at Aberdeen Proving Ground, working with Army customers, program offices, and partner integrators to install, integrate, and operate [R]DP, [R]AIMS, and [R]AP in their environments
• Own end-to-end product deployment and fielding at APG and the Army units we support, including environment preparation, installation, configuration, integration with Army data sources and mission systems, validation, and sustainment
• Write and contribute production-quality code in Go, Java, or Rust, turning field-driven gaps and fixes into durable product features between integration cycles rather than waiting for the core team to catch up
• Build, improve, and maintain installation, integration, and troubleshooting playbooks that any Raft engineer or qualified customer administrator can confidently execute in connected, disconnected, and degraded environments
• Apply DevSecOps practices end to end: CI/CD pipelines, container builds, infrastructure as code, secrets management, and RMF-relevant security controls that keep fielded deployments secure, reproducible, and auditable
• Deploy and debug Kubernetes workloads in customer environments, including Helm charts and manifests, pod and networking troubleshooting, storage, ingress, and operator management on clusters where Raft products run
• Integrate Raft products with Army data sources, mission systems, and partner platforms, applying a working understanding of how data and decisions flow across Army echelons
• Champion Raft products on site by running hands-on enablement with operators and developers, answering hard technical questions, and building lasting trust through credibility and follow-through
• Capture lessons learned, customer feedback, and unmet needs from the field and translate them into actionable input for Raft's product, engineering, and growth teams
• Know when to reach back. Identify problems that need the broader Raft team, frame them clearly, and pull in the right help quickly rather than grinding alone in the field

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on

Additional Information

This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S. This is a U.S. based position. All of the programs we support require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment. All work must be conducted within the continental U.S.

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