Forward Deployment Engineer

About the role

Alta Ares builds AI-guided interceptors against drones and cruise missiles and the software platform behind them, for NATO-aligned militaries and defence institutions. The Forward Deployment Engineer acts as the technical bridge between the engineering lab and partner units operating the systems in real conditions, deploying, configuring and maintaining system performance on site, from field trials to daily operations.

Key responsibilities

• Deploy and flash systems at scale across configurations and firmware versions, preparing devices for deployment
• Deploy and configure AI-enabled systems at partner operational sites
• Support integrations with partner systems and troubleshoot technical issues on site in real time
• Support testing of targeting and guidance systems, including on-site trips to test ranges
• Support live demonstrations and field trials
• Diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues in fast-paced environments
• Give structured feedback to software and hardware teams based on field results
• Support system validation, acceptance testing and operational readiness assessments
• Travel within the EU and the Middle East

Required profile

• 3+ years of experience in software testing, hardware integration or autonomous systems; robotics, UAV or defence experience is a strong advantage
• Fluent French and English; representing the company before strategic partners is mandatory
• Willingness to work in extreme field conditions with on-site constraints

Required skills

• Embedded Linux and Linux-based systems (Raspberry Pi, Jetson, robotics frameworks are a plus)
• Understanding of Python (a plus)
• Troubleshooting, Linux, networking fundamentals and hardware integration