---
title: 'Forward Deployed Engineer at Istari Digital'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-istari-digital-seattle-fhwqcnfcw0pv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Forward Deployed Engineer at Istari Digital

- **Company:** Istari Digital
- **Location:** Seattle, WA
- **Compensation:** $143k–$165k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-07-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/istaridigital.ai/4736151d-e43c-4816-9ed6-293411f20a94

## Job description

## The Role

Istari's software doesn't just get handed off, it gets deployed into some of the most complex engineering environments in aerospace and defense.  As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll be embedded directly inside our customer organizations, operating as part of their team while remaining tightly connected to Istari's product and engineering core. This is not a support role.  You are a builder.  You'll write real code, architect integrations, and solve hard problems that emerge at the intersection of digital engineering workflows and mission-critical operations.  The challenges you'll tackle require the instincts of a strong software engineer and the adaptability of someone who thrives in unstructured environments.  Challenges like connecting CAD, CFD, FEM pipelines to Istari's platform; unlocking cross-discipline and cross-clearance collaboration; enabling organizations to actually use the tools in which they've invested. You'll work alongside Istari Program Managers who are embedded in the same customer environments.  They carry the program context and stakeholder relationships while you own the technical execution.  Together, you operate as a unit capable of handling almost anything a customer throws at you.  The best Forward Deployed Engineers make our product smarter, not just our customers happier.

Core Responsibilities: Onsite Technical Delivery

- Embed with customer engineering teams to understand their workflows, data environments, and technical constraints

- Architect and build software solutions that integrate Istari's platform into existing digital engineering ecosystems (CAD, CFD, FEM, simulation pipelines, and related toolchains)

- Serve as the primary technical interface for the customer – not just answering questions, but proactively identifying where our software can drive more value

Software Development

- Develop, test, and maintain integrations and workflow solutions following modern software engineering practices

- Write clean, maintainable code that can be productized or reused across customer deployments

- Contribute to internal tooling and documentation that scales your knowledge across the team

Feedback Loop to Product

- Translate field experience into actionable product insights — you are one of Istari's clearest signals on what customers actually need

- Participate in internal engineering reviews, architecture discussions, and roadmap planning

- Help develop proposals and technical approaches for new customer opportunities

Required Qualifications:

Required

- Strong software engineering fundamentals — you write production-quality code and can defend your architectural decisions

- Hands-on experience with digital engineering toolchains: CAD, CFD, FEM, or related simulation and modeling environments

- Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments without a lot of hand-holding

- Ability to work on-site with customers in a U.S. defense or aerospace context (clearance eligibility required; active clearance a strong plus)

- U.S. citizenship required

## Preferred

- Experience integrating engineering software into larger data or workflow platforms

- Background in aerospace, defense, or other systems-engineering-heavy industries

- Exposure to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) or digital thread / digital twin concepts

- Exposure to or direct experience with advanced CAD, CFD, or FEM tools

Why This Role?

The engineers who do this job well become some of the most technically well-rounded people in the industry. You'll see how large, complex organizations actually work -- not just the happy path. You'll build things that get used immediately. And because you're reporting into Istari's Customer Success org (not a sales or account team), your career trajectory stays technical.  You'll also have the Istari team behind you: regular syncs, access to internal engineering resources, and a clear path to influence the product you're deploying.

## About Istari Digital

Istari is a digital engineering software company building open, scalable infrastructure for engineering data. Our platform lets customers simply and securely integrate engineering models across disciplines, organizations, and security levels -- whether they're designing prototypes, performing virtual testing, or training AI and autonomy for complex systems.

Focus is rewarded.  Finish is remembered.

Facts are friendly.  Even when they are not fun.

Fellowship is fundamental.  Make others successful.

## About Istari Digital

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Istari Digital provides a digital engineering infrastructure platform that connects and validates engineering data across fragmented environments for mission-critical industries like aerospace, defense, and energy.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A‑II; venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: Arlington, Virginia, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Dr. Will Roper (CEO) and Christopher Benson (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Aerospace, defense, space, energy, transportation, critical infrastructure
- **Target customers**: Enterprise and government organizations in “no‑fail” sectors (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Blue Origin)
- **Mission**: “Level the digital playing field in no‑fail industries” – enabling secure, auditable, and AI‑native engineering workflows without centralizing sensitive data

## Products & Services
- **[Istari Digital Platform](https://www.istaridigital.com/product)**: A digital infrastructure that securely routes engineering data across tools, teams, and classification boundaries. It connects models, simulations, and workflows to enable real‑time collaboration, system validation, and compliance certification – all while keeping data under the owner’s control. (Type: SaaS / Platform)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – $55.05M (per CBInsights) or $40.1M (per LinkedIn); conflicting reports may reflect different round definitions
- **Notable Investors**: Icon Ventures, Teamworthy Ventures, Eric Schmidt, AeroX Ventures, Radius Capital
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount of 64 employees (+61.5% year‑over-year)
  - LinkedIn followers grew 48.1% in the past year
  - Acquired Istari Federal LLC and Dgraph (2025)
  - Customers include Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin
  - 27 patents filed (as of early 2025)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Built for no‑fail industries**: The platform is designed for environments where failure is not an option (fighter jets, satellites, critical infrastructure), giving it a deep credibility moat.
- **Secure collaboration without compromise**: Enables cross‑organization, cross‑classification collaboration while allowing each party to retain control of their own data – a key differentiator in defense and regulated sectors.
- **Agentic engineering & AI‑native workflows**: Integrates AI into engineering validation and certification, reducing cycles from months to minutes.
- **Founders with domain expertise**: CEO Will Roper was the former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; CTO Christopher Benson brings deep technical experience from hyperscalers and defense programs.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the platform to serve more mission‑critical industries (air, sea, space, energy, transportation)
- Deepening AI capabilities for automated validation, compliance, and certification
- Expanding through acquisitions (Istari Federal, Dgraph) to strengthen federal presence and graph‑based data capabilities
- Building a distributed workforce with offices in Arlington (HQ), Cambridge (MA), and remote roles across the US

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven culture**: Employees work on genuinely hard, unsolved problems in decentralized data sovereignty, AI engineering, and cross‑domain security – with direct impact on national security and critical infrastructure.
- **Remote‑friendly**: Many roles are listed as remote (anywhere US) or hybrid (DMV area); on‑site options exist in Huntsville, AL and Seattle, WA.
- **Diverse team background**: The team comes from defense, industry, academia, government, and startups – “everyone’s background is a feature, not a footnote.”
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapid headcount growth, recent acquisitions, and strong investor backing suggest a high‑growth environment with ample career development opportunities.
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on deep curiosity, craft, and solving problems that matter; the platform is built by people who have lived the pain of manual, siloed engineering workflows.

## Sources
1. [Istari Digital – Company & Product Overview](https://www.istaridigital.com/)
2. [Istari Digital – About (Founders, Mission, Culture)](https://www.istaridigital.com/about)
3. [Istari Digital – Product Page](https://www.istaridigital.com/product)
4. [Istari Digital – Careers (Lever)](https://jobs.lever.co/istaridigital.ai/)
5. [CBInsights – Company Profile & Financials](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/istari-1)
6. [LinkedIn – Istari Digital Company Page](https://linkedin.com/company/istaridigital)

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