Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Manufacturing)

Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Manufacturing) $110,000 - 194,000 + Equity + Benefits + Relocation Assistance Dallas, TX (Hybrid, 3 days a week onsite) Are you a Software Engineer looking to own deployments end-to-end with an early-stage, well-funded company ($50M seed) that is revolutionizing defense manufacturing? Incredible opportunity to gain early equity in a fast-growth company that is building cutting-edge technology in the defense space, with sights set on becoming a billion-dollar business. This company is transforming America's defense manufacturing by integrating robotics and software into factory systems at scale. Backed by $50 million in funding and experiencing rapid growth, their mission is to restore America's industrial strength and build automated factories that produce for America's defense sector. In this role, you'll lead factory software deployments end-to-end - integrating systems, writing glue code, and supporting commissioning to get lines running. You'll also improve observability and automate processes to scale deployments efficiently. This is a fantastic opportunity for a Software Engineer who wants to be an individual contributor in factory software deployments, is success driven, and wants to make a huge impact on American manufacturing and defense. The Role: • Deploy and activate custom equipment with SCADA/MES integrations from dock to production. • Plan, install, and validate software in air-gapped, OT-constrained environments. • Write Python scripts to connect systems, transform data, and automate workflows. • Execute FAT/SAT punch lists and quickly resolve issues. • Support commissioning by troubleshooting PLCs, I/O, and networks with controls engineers. • Automate deployment steps to scale repeatable, low-touch rollouts. The Person: • Proficient in Python for automation, data processing, and building lightweight tools and services (CLI, REST, messaging). • Strong Linux skills, including system management, networking, filesystems, SSH, packaging, and working with Docker/containers. • Experience with industrial protocols and platforms such as Ignition, OPC UA, Modbus, EtherNet/IP, or MQTT. • Solid networking knowledge, including VLANs, NAT, VPNs, DHCP/DNS, and hands-on troubleshooting with tools like tcpdump, arping, and pcap.