FORWARD DEPLOYED PRINCIPAL ENGINEER

Distributed Edge Systems & C2 Integration Engineer

Panther Defense Mission Systems | C5ISR Mission Systems Integrator

National Landing, Arlington, VA (DHS HQ / Pentagon corridor) European field deployments, and U.S. border operations

Built for contested environments. Designed for operational advantage.

About Panther Defense

Panther Defense Mission Systems LLC is a national security mission systems integrator and prime contractor headquartered inside the DHS HQ and Pentagon mission corridor. We deliver C5ISR integration, ISR-C2 architecture, autonomous systems, sensor fusion, and edge-AI mission platforms to DHS, CBP, USCG, DoD, USAF, NGB, and IC customers connecting best of breed OEM technology and cleared partners into unified mission delivery platforms.

We were built by national security practitioners federal officers, operators, engineers, and acquisition professionals with direct experience across DHS, DoD, USAF, and IC mission environments. We are a mission systems integrator, purpose-built for the modern national security operating environment.

Mission systems integration.

What you'll own

• Derive system and subsystem-level requirements directly from operational gaps at the customer level
• Design resilient, low-latency network architectures enabling UxS command and control in contested, bandwidth-constrained environments
• Build and own CoT/TAK/ATAK integration pipelines, translating raw sensor data into authenticated, georeferenced alerts on tactical devices and enterprise COPs
• Build protocol parsers and adapters (CoT, ASTERIX, proprietary formats) validated against real partner ICDs
• Implement multi-sensor fusion and track correlation across UxS, radar, and EO/IR feeds, deduplication, sensor handoff, timestamp alignment
• Wrap every data feed in a Zero-Trust identity layer producing tamper-evident, audit-grade logs
• Partner directly with hardware engineers and OEM teams to close the software/hardware integration gap
• Engage technical end users and chief mission owners directly, run live demos, troubleshoot in the field, train operators, and feed their input straight back into the next build

Who we're looking for

We're looking for mission-aligned technologists, embedded systems engineers who are deeply invested in building and delivering real operational fielded solutions, not just occupying a seat on an org chart or producing powerpoints. People who want to generate growth and prosperity for the mission and the team around them, who thrive in a high performance culture, and who want creativity, operate autonomously with little to no direction in a nuanced fast paced environment, and genuine professional development, not eighteen months in a backlog waiting on a program office.

• 4 years building distributed systems, tactical data links, or C4ISR/defense integration in production
• Production experience with CoT, TAK/ATAK, and/or ASTERIX
• Strong Python and/or C , comfortable in distributed, edge-computed environments where latency and reliability matter
• Working knowledge of geospatial coordinate transformations (WGS84, ECEF, NED/ENU) and low-level network protocols (UDP/TCP, multicast)
• Comfort owning a problem end-to-end — from requirements through field deployment through customer training
• Active Security Clearance; TS/SCI strongly preferred

Our values

Mission First — every decision measured against mission impact.

Operational Credibility — we earn trust through execution, not brochures.

Technical Integrity — we integrate what works, not what sells.

WHY the most elite ENGINEERS choose PDMS

You won't be one of a thousand engineers on someone else's org chart. At PDMS, you touch requirements, code, hardware integration, and the customer conversation and you see your work deployed worldwide. If you want to build the mission systems that actually protect people, and you want a career defined by autonomy and growth instead of layers of overhead, this is your seat...on #operational overdrive!