What are the responsibilities and job description for the Forward Deployed Engineer (Palantir) position at Cabana?
Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Tactical Edge)
Location: Washington, D.C. / New York (on-site)
Compensation: $135K–$200K equity
This is not a typical software engineering role. You’ll operate like a startup CTO embedded inside high-stakes environments, working directly with customers solving real-world, mission-critical problems.
You’ll:
- Deploy software onto edge devices and constrained environments
- Work on air-gapped, on-prem systems with real operational impact
- Own end-to-end delivery — from architecture to deployment to support
- Troubleshoot live systems where failure is not an option
This is for engineers who want ownership, intensity, and real-world impact.
What You’ll Actually Be Doing
- Build and deploy software in tactical edge environments (low-resource, on-prem, distributed systems)
- Work directly with customers to solve complex operational problems in real time
- Debug everything from network issues to container orchestration failures
- Operate across the stack - infra, backend, deployment, systems
- Travel (~25%) to support deployments in the field
- Collaborate with small, high-performing teams with minimal oversight
What Makes This Different
- You’re not building features - you’re deploying capability into the real world
- You’ll deal with constraints most engineers never see (limited compute, disconnected systems, mobility)
- You’ll be expected to figure things out without playbooks
- The problems are ambiguous, the stakes are high, and the feedback loop is immediate
What We’re Looking For
You should realistically tick most of the below:
- 2–5 years as a software engineer (strong fundamentals required)
- Experience working close to systems, infrastructure, or hardware integration
- Comfortable coding in Python, Java, Bash (or similar)
- Strong understanding of Linux systems
- Exposure to Kubernetes / container orchestration
- Ability to operate in uncertain, high-pressure environments
- Security clearance (Secret or Top Secret)
Bonus points for:
- Experience with on-prem deployments or edge systems
- Background in defence, robotics, distributed systems, or infra-heavy environments
Salary : $170,000 - $200,000