Albacore

Forward Deployed Engineer at Albacore (Philadelphia, PA)

Albacore· Philadelphia, PA·

Role details

Work type
Hybrid
Employment
Full-Time

Job description

Role description:

  • Operate, troubleshoot, and maintain vehicle systems during customer engagements, field experiments, and operational evaluations.
  • Support mission planning, launch and recovery, payload integration, and system bring-up in dynamic real-world environments.
  • Serve as a key bridge between operators and the engineering team by translating field feedback into actionable design, reliability, and usability improvements.
  • Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and software engineers to diagnose issues, validate fixes, and improve vehicle performance across hardware and software.
  • Help develop operational concepts, test procedures, training materials, and best practices for vehicle employment with defense users.
  • Represent the company professionally in front of military stakeholders, helping build trust through strong technical execution and clear communication.

Desired qualifications:

  • B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or related technical field, or equivalent hands-on technical experience.
  • 1-7 years of experience in engineering, robotics, unmanned systems, field operations, defense technology, or military technical roles.
  • Military background strongly preferred, especially Navy SEAL, Submarine Officer, or EOD/UUV Specialist, or maritime SOCOM experience. Other operational experience relevant to the field will also be considered.
  • Experience operating, maintaining, troubleshooting, or supporting robotic, maritime, electromechanical, or autonomous systems in real-world environments.
  • Strong communication skills and ability to engage constructively with military operators, program managers, and technical experts.
  • Willingness to travel frequently for customer meetings, demonstrations, exercises, testing, and deployed support, including domestically and internationally.
  • Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-paced environments and turning field observations into concrete engineering recommendations.
  • U.S. work authorization required, TS/SCI clearance preferred.

Why work at Albacore

  • High-impact defense mission: Directly contribute to national security and maritime defense with a young, mission-driven team
  • Early-stage ownership: Join post-seed, pre-scale startup (25 employees) where engineers have outsized influence on product and architecture
  • Location: Based in Philadelphia, PA
  • Open roles: Mechanical Engineer, Software Engineer, Electrical Engineer (plus past openings for Powertrain Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, Head of Supply Chain, and internships)
  • Technical culture: Hands-on work spanning robotics, AI, propulsion, battery systems, manufacturing, and defense contracting — a broad, fast-paced engineering environment
  • Backing: Y Combinator-backed with meaningful seed funding to support growth

Application questions