Harmattan AI

Field Deployment Engineer - Global Lead at Harmattan AI (Paris, France)

Harmattan AI· Paris, France·

Role details

Work type
Onsite
Employment
Full-Time

Harmattan AI at a glance

France's first defense-tech unicorn, building attritable AI-piloted strike, interception, and ISR drones for allied militaries.

Harmattan AI is a vertically integrated defense prime building autonomous drone systems for allied militaries. It designs the full stack, from airframes and payloads to embedded compute and the autonomy algorithms that let drones sense, decide, and act at the edge without GPS or a network link, coordinated across a swarm by its mission-orchestration layer.

$242M raised · latest: Series B · $200M · January 2026 · backed by Dassault Aviation, FirstMark Capital, Atlantic, Motier Ventures

Job description

ABOUT US

Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.

Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.

About the Role

As Field Deployment Engineer - Global Lead, you are the senior authority building and leading Harmattan's global deployment function for our ground systems — across hardware and software, and across sites and contracts. You define the deployment strategy, methodology, and documentation used company-wide, you stand up and grow local deployment teams, and you serve as the primary interface between field deployment teams and our engineering teams. Local Deployment Leads report into this role as the function scales into new sites and geographies.

This role combines deep technical ownership with field leadership and direct responsibility for building a function from the ground up, in a demanding, high-stakes environment.

Responsibilities

  • Deployment Strategy Leadership: Own the worldwide deployment strategy — methodology, documentation, and playbooks used across all sites and contracts.
  • Team Management: Guide and coordinate local deployment teams; local deployment leads report into this role; ensure hiring, training, and execution quality as the function grows.
  • Technical Authority: Own end-to-end system functionality in the field across hardware and software layers; serve as the senior escalation point for technical issues.
  • Commissioning & Acceptance: Oversee system configuration, testing, and validation across sites; own the acceptance process through to sign-off.
  • Cross-functional Coordination: Act as the primary interface between field deployment teams and engineering teams — relaying product requirements, debugging needs, and updates in both directions.
  • Team Enablement: Build the training and enablement approach that brings local deployment teams toward growing autonomy.
  • Documentation: Produce rigorous deployment strategy, process, and training documentation; maintain structured records across sites.

Candidate Requirements

  • 5+ years of experience in field deployment, systems integration, or technical commissioning on enterprise-grade or complex electronics systems.
  • Demonstrated experience leading, hiring, or building a team in field or operational environments.
  • Hands-on experience with hardware/software integration in operational environments — experience with complex integrated sensing or control systems is a strong plus.
  • Strong systems-level understanding: ability to troubleshoot and own resolution across hardware, software, and connectivity layers.
  • Proven ability to build structure and documentation from scratch, and to bring teams to operational autonomy on complex systems.
  • High degree of field autonomy and composure in high-stakes, time-sensitive environments.
  • Detail-oriented with strong documentation and organisational skills.
  • Comfortable with a dynamic schedule requiring frequent international presence.
  • Fluency in English required; additional languages relevant to the regions of operations are a plus.

We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

Why work at Harmattan AI

  • Culture: “Elite builders” who “thrive on complexity, move with urgency, and own their work end to end.” Emphasis on purpose, technical excellence, and real‑world impact. harmattan.ai
  • Values: Tackle the hardest problems, build what matters, move at the speed of relevance, and aim to redefine frontiers. harmattan.ai
  • Work policy: Hybrid model with a mix of remote and on‑site; many roles are in‑office at locations in Paris, Lausanne, London, Arlington (TX), Wissous, Poland, UAE, and Morocco. builtin.com
  • Engineering culture: Hands‑on development of mission‑critical autonomous systems; strong R&D focus across AI, computer vision, RF hardware, propulsion, and mission planning.
  • Perks: Not explicitly listed, but the company highlights the opportunity to protect front‑line personnel and shape the future of autonomous defence.

Application questions