Forward Deployed Engineer – External Referrals Only

Know a Forward Deployed Engineer Who’d Crush This?

TRM is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (TS/SCI required) to work directly with U.S. national security customers—and we’re offering a $20,000 referral bonus for any internal or external referral that results in a hire.

If someone immediately popped into your head, keep reading.

Who This Is For

You should refer someone if they’re the kind of engineer who:

• Has active TS/SCI clearance (this is non-negotiable)
• Has shipped mission-critical systems for government or national security customers
• Is comfortable working directly with customers, often in high-stakes, high-trust environments
• Has strong experience in Cloud, Applied AI, or Data Engineering
• Can communicate clearly with engineers and operators
• Is located in Washington, DC (in-person required)

What They'd Be Doing

Forward Deployed Engineers at TRM sit at the intersection of engineering execution and customer delivery. The exact technical focus depends on the engineer’s strengths, but the work consistently involves:

• Working directly with national security customers to deploy, integrate, and operate TRM’s platform in secure environments
• Translating real customer problems into practical, production-ready technical solutions
• Building, configuring, or extending systems across application, data, and infrastructure layers
• Integrating with customer environments using APIs, cloud services, data pipelines, or distributed systems
• Owning solutions end-to-end—from initial deployment through production support
• Supporting mission-critical systems and resolving real-world issues alongside customer teams

This is not a handoff role. It’s hands-on, high-trust, and high-impact.

What “Good” Looks Like

Strong referrals often have experience in one or more of the following:

• Full Stack Engineering: Designing and deploying backend services or customer-facing applications in production environments
• Applied AI / ML: Operationalizing models, analytics, or intelligent workflows in real customer systems
• Infrastructure Engineering: Deploying and operating secure cloud or Kubernetes-based systems
• Data Engineering: Building scalable data pipelines, lakehouses, or analytics platforms

Across all backgrounds, successful candidates typically bring:

• Experience working in secure or regulated environments
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and customer constraints
• Strong ownership mentality and communication skills
• Willingness to travel up to 50% as needed

Compensation

• Competitive compensation based on level and experience. 
• Estimated base salary range for this role is $200,000 - $290,000.
• Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.
• Final level (Engineer, Senior Engineer, or Staff Engineer) determined by scope, impact, and background

Referral Bonus and Disclaimer

• $20,000 referral bonus for an external referral that results in a hire. Bonus will be paid when the referral reaches their 180th day of employment.
• By submitting a referral, you confirm that you have informed the candidate and obtained their permission to share their information with TRM Labs for recruiting purposes. Referral eligibility is based on the first submitted referral for a candidate and subject to TRM’s referral program terms.
• Referrals are not eligible if the candidate has been interviewed by TRM Labs within the past 12 months.