Forward Deployed Engineer, Federal (On-Site)

C3 AI (NYSE: AI), is the Enterprise AI application software company. C3 AI delivers a family of fully integrated products including the C3 Agentic AI Platform, an end-to-end platform for developing, deploying, and operating enterprise AI applications, C3 AI applications, a portfolio of industry-specific SaaS enterprise AI applications that enable the digital transformation of organizations globally, and C3 Generative AI, a suite of domain-specific generative AI offerings for the enterprise. Learn more at: C3 AI
C3 AI is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer, Federal (On-Site) to join our Federal team. In this role, you will be the on-site engineer responsible for a C3 AI Platform deployment running in a disconnected, on-premises environment at a secure government facility in Southern Maryland. Your primary focus is keeping the system available: monitoring its health, responding to incidents and outages, performing upgrades and patches, and building the automation and runbooks that keep problems from recurring. When operations are steady, you will support the customer’s applications on the platform through troubleshooting and evaluating potential enhancements. An ideal candidate is calm under pressure, comfortable debugging Linux and Kubernetes without internet access, and able to work directly with federal customers.
This role requires U.S. citizenship, an active Secret clearance, and the ability to obtain additional program access.
Responsibilities
Operate and maintain the C3 AI Platform in the customer's disconnected, on-premises environment, maximizing uptime.
Respond to incidents and outages: diagnose root cause, restore service, and document findings.
Monitor system health and build alerting and automation to prevent recurrence.
Plan and perform upgrades and patches using offline artifacts.
When operations are steady, contribute to application development and enhancements, using your on-site proximity to the customer to gather feedback, understand use cases, and translate needs into requirements.
Surface technical risks and work with product, engineering, and SRE teams to improve product quality.
Occasionally travel to visit C3 AI offices or other customer sites.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or equivalent professional experience.
Software development experience with JavaScript and Python.
Experience with scripting or programming (Python or Bash preferred) to automate and monitor systems.
Excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills.
Experience working in a customer-facing role.
Preferred qualifications
Demonstrated experience in deploying, managing, and operating scalable and fault-tolerant Kubernetes-based infrastructure, especially on-prem.
Expertise in Linux operating systems, networking, and database concepts.
Experience with Git or other version control software.
2+ years of professional software development experience with object-oriented programming languages.
Security and work environment
This role is performed full time on-site in a secure government facility.
Requires U.S. citizenship, an active Secret clearance, and the ability to obtain additional program access.
Program access involves an enhanced security review, which may include review of foreign contacts, foreign travel, and finances. Ongoing reporting obligations apply.
Program access is expected to take 3-6 months. During this time, training will be conducted, including regular travel to our Tysons, VA office.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future company sponsorship.
C3 AI provides excellent benefits, a competitive compensation package and generous equity plan.
Maryland Base Pay Range
$120,000—$158,000 USD
C3 AI is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected characteristics, including disabled and veteran status.