---
title: 'Forward Deployed Engineer - Oahu (TS/SCI Clearance Required) at Vannevar'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-oahu-ts-sci-clearance-required-vannevar-honolulu-44cpqzdcj37a'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Forward Deployed Engineer - Oahu (TS/SCI Clearance Required) at Vannevar

- **Company:** Vannevar
- **Location:** Honolulu Hawaii, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-03-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vannevarlabs/jobs/5082044007

## Job description

Vannevar is a defense technology company building AI to deter our adversaries. In the 21st century, conflict moves at algorithmic speed and foresight equals firepower. Our agentic AI is purpose-built to compete with China—from cross-Strait conflict to gray zone coercion. Trained on the most mission-relevant datasets in defense, our technology models adversary behavior, simulates campaigns, and recommends the best course of action to decision makers. Our AI systems are some of the most trusted in the industry and actively used on the front lines of the Indo-Pacific to keep the peace and save lives.

Exceptional technology starts with exceptional people. Vannevar is a small agile team combining world-class engineers with veteran strategists who bring deep expertise in defense and tradecraft. We’re building a company defined by mission impact, user empathy, and disciplined growth. In just three years, we grew from $3M to $80M in ARR, achieved early profitability, and reached unicorn status—proving that disruption doesn’t require an ego, and staying power doesn’t mean standing still.

## About the role

Our Mission teams operate like small startups within the Vannevar Labs umbrella. As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will serve as the technical owner for a mission and its associated customer engagements. You will work directly with operators, analysts, and technical stakeholders supporting national security missions, owning the architecture, development, deployment, and fielding of software solutions tailored to real-world operational needs.

In this role, you will act as a senior technical counterpart to customer stakeholders — translating mission requirements into scalable software, navigating government technical environments, and ensuring capabilities are delivered reliably into production. You will collaborate closely with product, design, platform engineering, and mission teammates to deliver high-impact outcomes, while remaining a hands-on individual contributor.

## What you'll do

- Architect, build, and own software solutions deployed directly to customer environments in support of mission-critical use cases
- Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customer stakeholders, engaging with senior technical leaders to understand mission needs and represent Vannevar’s technical approach
- Own end-to-end technical delivery for your mission workstreams, from requirements gathering and system design through implementation, deployment, and sustainment
- Contribute hands-on code to improve product capabilities, performance, and scalability across customer use cases
- Build software that enables users to unlock value from large-scale data holdings, including text, multimedia, and geospatial datasets spanning over 46 languages
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners — including engineers, product designers, and mission domain experts — to plan and deliver complex software features
- Support government-facing technical artifacts as needed, including input to RFIs, RFPs, Statements of Work, and white papers
- Navigate and integrate with government IT ecosystems, ensuring solutions meet security, compliance, and operational constraints
- This is a fully remote role, but traveling is required - travel up to 20–30% to engage directly with mission owners and deliver capabilities in the field

## What you should have

- 5+ years as a Full Stack Developer including familiarity with relational databases (like Postgres), caching technologies (like Redis), object storage systems (like S3), and modern front-end frameworks (like React)
- Experience developing and deploying software compliant with DoD Risk Management Framework (RMF)
- Experience interfacing with government owned IT systems (for example, data platforms, IdAM providers, SIEM, CDSs, etc)
- Experience working with government IT and program offices to scope technical requirements, architecture, and integrations
- Experience working with end users to scope mission requirements, conduct user testing, and gain product feedback
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills
- Must hold an active U.S. TS Security clearance with SCI Eligibility
- This role is hybrid in our Honolulu office

## What we offer

Competitive Salary

The salary range for this position is $135,000-$205,000 + equity. Within the range, individual pay is determined by experience, relevant education, and/or training.

Comprehensive Benefits

We’re proud to offer competitive benefits that support our employees. Some key highlights of our benefits package include:

- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Remote friendly with WeWork access
- Unlimited PTO, shared downtime during the federal holiday calendar, and company-wide off time at the end of each year
- 401(k) match
- Lifestyle & wellbeing stipends
- Salary top-up during military reserve duty
- Fully paid parental leave
- Child and pet care reimbursement during travel

Vannevar is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply, even if you don't feel like you're a perfect fit. If you're passionate about contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you!

## IMPORTANT NOTICE

We are committed to protecting the privacy of all applicants. Official emails from the company will come from an @vannevarlabs.com domain. Under no circumstances will a legitimate representative from our company contact you to request passwords, financial information, or other sensitive personal data. Please be vigilant of potential scams.

## About Vannevar

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Vannevar Labs builds next-generation AI-powered defense software for information dominance and decision advantage across the U.S. military and homeland security missions.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, total funding $91.5M)
- **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Brett Granberg (CEO) and Nini Hamrick (President)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing; National Security Software
- **Target customers**: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community, Homeland Security – including combatant commands (INDOPACOM, SOCOM, AFSOC, etc.) and federal agencies.
- **Mission**: Build 21st-century software that operates at the speed of modern conflict to give the U.S. and its allies battlefield information dominance and decision advantage.

## Products & Services
- **[Decrypt](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/)** – Flagship product: a foreign text workflow platform that processes vast amounts of open-source intelligence (OSINT), translates languages (Mandarin, Russian, etc.), and surfaces critical patterns and insights for intelligence officers. SaaS deployed at the tactical edge.
- **[Curator](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs)** – (Beta) A translation and search-and-discovery tool built on top of Decrypt’s data pipeline.
- **Unreleased Products** – At least two additional tools in beta (as of Nov 2024) focused on computer vision and/or NLP for battlefield applications.
- **Forward Deployed Engineering** – Custom integration and mission support for specific units, often requiring security clearances.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed (last known post-Series B in 2023)
- **Total Funding**: $91.5M
  - Seed (Apr 2019): $4.5M
  - Seed (Jan 2021): undisclosed amount, led by Costanoa Ventures and General Catalyst
  - Series A (Aug 2021): $12M, led by Costanoa Ventures and Point72 Ventures
  - Series B (Jan 2023): $75M, led by Felicis (with 7 investors)
- **Annual Revenue**: Conflicting reports – [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vannevar-labs) lists $25M; [Contrary Research](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs) states revenue grew from $3.5M in 2021 to $80M in 2024, achieving profitability within three years.
- **Key Customers & Partners**: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, National Air and Space Intelligence Center; partner with Databricks (announced Oct 2024).
- **Notable Investors**: Costanoa Ventures, General Catalyst, Point72 Ventures, Felicis.
- **Growth Signals**: Featured on Forbes AI 50 (2024 & 2025); headcount reportedly over 200 as of Dec 2025 (per Contrary); active in major joint exercises (Balikatan 2025, Talisman Sabre 2025); secured a $99M production contract from the Defense Innovation Unit in late 2024.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Rare Proprietary Data** – Over one petabyte of adversarial, hard-to-access data that powers fine-tuned AI models not available to commercial firms.
- **Tactical Edge Deployment** – AI systems designed to run at the edge, on low-bandwidth battlefield environments, ensuring real-time decision superiority.
- **Rapid DoD Adoption** – Uses flexible Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements and DIU partnerships to bypass traditional procurement timelines.
- **Cross-Domain Expertise** – Combines talent from elite military units (SEALs, Marines, Intelligence) with top tech companies (Google, Palantir, Scale AI, Amazon, Apple).
- **Profitability at Scale** – Achieved profitability within three years – a rare achievement in defense tech.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand International & Homeland Security** – Growing footprint beyond all‑military to include Homeland Security, border security, and diplomatic economic security tools.
- **Agentic AI Platform** – Building “armies of agents” that can autonomously steer fleets, detect threats, and keep missiles from flying, with human-in-the-loop oversight.
- **Indo‑Pacific Deterrence** – Deepening capabilities for theater‑specific deterrence and partner‑nation data sharing.
- **Talent Heavy‑Up** – Actively hiring for 28+ roles (as of mid‑2026) across engineering, mission, and operations, especially those requiring TS/SCI clearances.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑Driven Culture** – Described as “a workplace like no other” where ex‑Googlers work alongside ex‑SEALs to build AI that protects American lives. Employees focus on “real‑world difference” rather than incremental consumer apps.
- **Work Environment** – Hybrid / remote‑friendly, though many roles require on‑site presence in D.C., Honolulu, or other cleared facilities. Remote positions exist for those with existing clearances.
- **Engineering Philosophy** – Emphasis on building agent‑based systems, working with rare datasets, and pushing AI to the tactical edge. Employees cite high compensation but note work‑life balance challenges (rating 2.7/5 on Glassdoor).
- **Career Growth** – Rapidly growing organization with direct exposure to defense decision‑makers, opportunities to lead mission‑critical deployments, and a strong alumni network feeding into top defense tech (Palantir, Anduril, Scale AI).
- **Security Clearance Required** – Most engineering and mission roles require (or sponsor) U.S. government security clearances (TS/SCI). This is a strong signal of deep‑end work.

## Sources
1. [vannevarlabs.com](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/) – Company website
2. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vannevar-labs) – LinkedIn Company Page (financials, headcount, reviews)
3. [research.contrary.com](https://research.contrary.com/report/vannevar-labs) – Contrary Research Report (funding details, revenue, products, headcount, customers)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vannevarlabs) – Greenhouse careers page (open roles, job descriptions)
5. [vannevarlabs.com/careers/open-roles](https://www.vannevarlabs.com/careers/open-roles/) – Official open roles listing

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