Forward Deployed Engineer at Quindar (S22)
$140K - $175K
The platform to monitor and automate satellite operations
Denver, CO, US / Washington, DC, US / Los Angeles, CA, US
Full-time
US citizen/visa only
3+ years
About Quindar

Have you seen Apollo 13, The Martian, or Armageddon and recall all of the NASA engineers in a room with a bunch of monitors? Quindar is digitizing that away. Satellites are flying servers in space and we are revolutionizing the future of spacecraft operations by building the DataDog for space.

Our team has worked at SpaceX, OneWeb, Lockheed Martin, Iridium, Boeing, AWS, and RedHat. We've operated dozens of satellites, worked on broadband and earth observation constellations, and serviced commercial and government users. We are using lessons learned from our previous aerospace and startup experiences to revolutionize the space industry and enable access to space without being an expert.

About the role

We are seeking a customer-obsessed engineer to enable customer success as our Forward Deployed Product Engineer. Our customers operate satellite missions using our software platform where failure isn’t an option. Your role is to ensure our software meets this demanding need at the edge where it matters most. Equally important, you’ll notice what’s missing, what could be simpler, and what needs to exist that no one has thought of yet – and you’ll turn those observations into product direction.

This isn’t just an engineering role, it’s a product role. Deployed in the field, in the ops centers, and alongside our customers. You are a generalist who can move across the full stack, from infrastructure to the frontend, solving problems across systems and using AI as leverage to accelerate development. At Quindar, we believe the future belongs to engineers who can use AI to move faster, build better, and shape the next generation of our products.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Configure and deploy our software in customer environments, ensuring reliability and performance across complex workflows.
  • Troubleshoot issues across backend APIs, cloud infrastructure, databases, and the frontend.
  • Travel to customer sites and embed with operations teams, building trusted technical relationships.
  • Prototype products and iterate quickly with live customer data and direct feedback.
  • Act as the voice of the customer in product discussions, translating field insights into roadmap priorities, solutions, and integrations.
  • Partner with Product & Engineering to turn successful prototypes into production code.
  • Develop playbooks for repeatable integrations and maintain clear documentation and training resources.

Qualifications:

  • Education:
    • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Aerospace, Engineering, or a related field.
  • Experience
    • 3+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on customer-facing roles. 
    • Proven track record of building, deploying, or supporting production software in mission-critical environments.
  • Technical Skills
    • Proficiency in Python; experience with TypeScript, Java, or similar is a plus.
    • Experience building software with AI tools such as Cursor, Amp, ChatGPT
    • Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), databases, and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
  • Soft Skills
    • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
    • Strong product sense: ability to question requirements, spot patterns, solve problems for the users.
    • Bias toward action: comfortable shipping prototypes quickly and iterating.
    • Adaptability and curiosity, thriving in ambiguous, fast-changing environments.
  • Certifications:
    • Relevant certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Certified Kubernetes Administrator) are a plus.
  • Active US Security Clearance (TS/SCI) strongly preferred

 ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

  • To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Why you'll love working at Quindar

  • We work in a cutting edge industry and you will get the opportunity to be part of a small team with a large direct impact on the success of our customers’ space missions!
  • We take work life balance very seriously. We require employees to take 15 days off but provide unlimited PTO and follow most US federal government holidays.
  • Mental health is just as important as physical so we provide quarterly health & wellness benefits.
  • Comprehensive health insurance for you and your family with 100% coverage for employees.
  • We encourage employees to save for retirement and provide 4% 401(k) matching.
  • Each quarter we have a 4-day company offsite. Previous locations include San Francisco, Nashville, Denver, Santa Fe, New Orleans, San Diego, Bozeman, and New York City.
  • Our culture and company is evolving. You will be key in creating the next major or minor version!
Technology

Quindar is looking for candidates that like using modern software tools, cloud based services, and architecting software designs. Our frontend is built with React on top of Hasura deployed with Terraform on AWS GovCloud. We have a microservice architecture powered by Python and rely heavily on CI/CD processes.

Aerospace experts are NOT required to help build out our platform. We are looking for candidates that want to build software that tracks, contacts, and operates hundreds of flying computers in space that operate on different operating systems for various customers.

Interview Process

First Round - Screening Call (30m) The Hiring Manager will walk through your experience, the role, and make sure we are in alignment with the expectations (50% Behavioral, 50% Technical).

Second Round (60 min) Interview with the Principal Software Architect (25% Behavioral, 75% Technical).

Third Round (2 hours) Coding Challenge

Fourth Round (60 min) Interview with two members of our engineering and product teams (25% Behavioral, 75% Technical).

Reference Check The Hiring Manager will ask for 2 references within the last 5 years. These can be former managers or colleagues.

Meet the CEO (30 min) A final discussion with our CEO where you can ask questions regarding company future and culture

Offer The hiring manager will reach out with a verbal offer and a formal offer within 24 hours of notification.

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