Field Deployment Engineer

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.

About the Role

As Field Deployment Engineer, you are responsible for the end-to-end deployment, installation, commissioning, and sustainment of the company's technical systems at client sites. You own system functionality in the field from initial site survey through on-site acceptance — across both hardware and software. You are also the expert operator on-site: you develop deep mastery of the system, operate it proficiently in the field, and train client teams toward full autonomy.

This is an engineer-level role with a strong field and hardware lean — not a pure developer role, not a technician role. The dual hardware and software capability is essential. High travel and extended on-site campaigns are core to this position.

Responsibilities

• Site Assessment: Evaluate customer sites ahead of deployment; identify prerequisites, constraints, and installation requirements.
• Hardware Deployment: Install, assemble, connect, and bring up the system's physical components and equipment on site.
• Software Deployment: Install, configure, and parameterise the system's software for each operational context; comfortable on Linux.
• Commissioning: Bring the full system online and verify correct end-to-end functionality across hardware and software.
• Integration Support: Support connection of the company's systems with the client's existing operational environment, working alongside integration engineers.
• Test & Acceptance: Conduct on-site testing and acceptance activities through to client sign-off.
• Troubleshooting: Diagnose and resolve hardware, software, and networking issues in the field; drive resolution and feed recurring findings back to engineering.
• System Expertise & Operation: Develop deep, hands-on mastery of the system; operate it proficiently in the field and serve as the on-site technical reference.
• Training & Enablement: Train and coach client operators and maintainers on system use, operation, and maintenance; build toward their autonomy; contribute to training and maintenance documentation.
• Maintenance & Sustainment: Perform preventive and corrective maintenance on deployed systems; carry out diagnostics, repairs, and return-to-service procedures.

Candidate Requirements

• 2–5 years of hands-on field or technical experience — field operations, systems integration, test, or manufacturing.
• Proven proficiency across both hardware and software deployment — comfortable assembling and connecting physical equipment and installing, configuring, and parameterising software. This dual capability is essential, not a nice-to-have.
• Electromechanical aptitude: hardware assembly, electrical hookup, ability to read technical diagrams and schematics.
• Networking fundamentals: connectivity setup and diagnostics.
• Comfortable on Linux; deploying, configuring, and debugging software in operational settings.
• Systems thinking: ability to reason across an integrated system of multiple subsystems, not a single component.
• Ability to master the system as an expert user and to teach it — strong communication and coaching skills, comfortable training client personnel.
• Hands-on maintenance and repair experience: preventive checks, fault diagnosis, corrective action, and return-to-service.
• Field temperament: autonomous in austere environments, procedurally rigorous, strong safety mindset in safety-critical operational settings.
• Comfortable with a high travel rate and extended on-site campaigns — this is core to the role.
• Proficiency in English is mandatory; additional languages relevant to the region of operations are a plus.

Nice to Have

• Experience with complex hardware-software integrated systems.
• Experience integrating systems with third-party operational environments.
• Prior experience training or instructing end-users (train-the-trainer).
• Prior experience in field-based deployments or high-stakes operational environments.