Forward Deployed Software Engineer (TS/SCI)

Reposted 11 Days Ago
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Washington, DC
In-Office
200K-265K Annually
Mid level
Blockchain
The Role
The position requires building and deploying systems for government clients, adapting to evolving needs, and delivering mission outcomes through varied technologies.
Summary Generated by Built In
Build a Safer World. 

TRM Labs provides blockchain analytics and AI solutions to help law enforcement and national security agencies, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency businesses detect, investigate, and disrupt crypto-related fraud and financial crime. TRM’s blockchain intelligence and AI platforms include solutions to trace the source and destination of funds, identify illicit activity, build cases, and construct an operating picture of threats. TRM is trusted by leading agencies and businesses worldwide who rely on TRM to enable a safer, more secure world for all.

You will operate at the intersection of TRM’s technology and our government customers’ most critical missions. You will build, deploy, and iterate on systems in real operational environments, often with incomplete information and evolving requirements. Success in this role comes from adaptability, curiosity, strong execution, and the determination to solve hard problems that matter.

This role designed for individuals with exceptional aptitude, rapid learning ability, and a bias toward action. This role is not defined by a narrow technical specialty. Instead, it is centered on delivering mission impact by applying whatever technologies, tools, or engineering disciplines are required—whether AI, ML, full-stack software, data engineering, or platform infrastructure.

The impact you’ll have here:
  • Deliver mission outcomes by developing and deploying greenfield technical solutions—from prototypes to production systems—across diverse technology stacks.
  • Learn and apply new skills rapidly, whether building AI-powered applications, designing data pipelines, extending full-stack systems, or integrating with secure government environments.
  • Serve as a technical partner to mission stakeholders, translating ambiguous needs into actionable engineering work and working backward from mission impact.
  • Own end-to-end delivery: requirements gathering, architecture, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing support in production environments.
  • Create clarity and momentum in high-stakes settings, removing blockers, simplifying complexity, and driving solutions forward with urgency.
  • Capture ground-truth feedback from operators and incorporate it into TRM’s product direction, engineering practices, and long-term programs.
What we’re looking for:
  • Background in fullstack or backend engineering using technologies such as NodeJS, Python, Postgres/SQL and React
  • Strong fundamentals in software engineering, with proficiency in at least one programming language and the ability to pick up others quickly.
  • Demonstrated ability to learn new technologies rapidly (e.g., cloud platforms, AI/ML tools, distributed systems, data processing frameworks, or full-stack frameworks).
  • Evidence of high ownership: you set goals, execute with urgency, and reliably deliver outcomes even in ambiguous or constrained environments.
  • Ability to work directly with technical and non-technical stakeholders, communicate clearly, and build trust in mission-critical settings.
  • Comfort working across the stack—whether writing backend code, tuning an ML model, configuring cloud infrastructure, or debugging a data pipeline.
  • Desire to work on hard problems that have real consequences for national security and global financial integrity.
    **Candidate must have an active TS/SCI clearance**

Learn about TRM Speed in this position:

  • Rapid Issue Resolution: Forward Deployed Engineers identify and diagnose critical onsite issues, set up incident channels or virtual war rooms with the remote team, and implement fixes in mintues to hours. FDEs also conduct retros and shares lessons with both internal teams and customer stakeholders within 48 hours of resolution.
  • Navigating Bureaucratic Hurdles: Engineer anticipates and proactively addresses potential customer-side delays. They build relationships with customer stakeholders (COTR, Enterprise technical lead, etc.), identify procedural bottlenecks, and seek alternative pathways for approvals. This approach reduces wait times for critical decisions and keeps projects on track despite complex customer processes.
  • Efficient Knowledge Transfer: Conducts knowledge sharing sessions and maintains up-to-date documentation in Notion and issue tracking in Jira for the remote team. All milestone-impacting issues are flagged within 24 hours, reducing problem-solving time and ensuring remote team is always aware of any updates to the plans.
About TRM's Engineering Levels:

Engineer: Responsible for helping to define project milestones and executing small decision decisions independently with the appropriate tradeoffs between simplicity, readability, and performance. Provides mentorship to junior engineers, and enhances operational excellence through tech debt reduction and knowledge sharing.

Senior Engineer: Successfully designs and documents system improvements and features for an OKR/project from the ground up. Consistently delivers efficient and reusable systems, optimizes team throughput with appropriate tradeoffs, mentors team members, and enhances cross-team collaboration through documentation and knowledge sharing.

Staff Engineer: Drives scoping and execution of one or more OKRs/projects that impact multiple teams. Partners with stakeholders to set the team vision and technical roadmaps for one or more products. Is a role model and mentor to the entire engineering organization. Ensures system health and quality with operational reviews, testing strategies, and monitoring rigor.

The following represents the expected range of compensation for this role:

  • The estimated base salary range for this role is $200,000 - $265,000.
  • Additionally, this role may be eligible to participate in TRM’s equity plan.
  • Please note – we factor in the different costs for geographies outside the United States.
Life at TRM

We are building a safer world. That promise shows up in how we work every day.

TRM runs fast. Really fast. We’re a high‑velocity, high‑ownership team that expects clarity, follow‑through, and impact. People who thrive here are energized by hard problems, experimentation, and direct feedback. If something takes months elsewhere, it often ships here in days. 

That pace isn’t for everyone. If you are optimizing primarily for consistent work-life balance, use the interview process to pressure-test fit. We want teammates who thrive here, not just survive here.

Leadership Principles

We hire and grow against three leadership principles. They’re the standards for how we operate, treat each other, and make decisions.

  • Impact-Oriented Trailblazer: We put customers first and move with speed, focus, and adaptability. We treat every plan like an experiment – test, ship, measure, and iterate quickly.
  • Master Craftsperson: We care deeply about our craft. We balance speed with high standards, own outcomes end‑to‑end, and invest in getting better everyday.
  • Inspiring Colleague: We add clarity and energy, not noise. We bring humility, candor, and a one‑team mindset — giving and receiving feedback to make the team stronger.

Learn more: Interviewing at TRM: How We Hire and What Success Looks Like

The impact you will have

This work has real stakes. Depending on your role at TRM, your week might look like:

  • Driving critical investigations that can’t wait for typical business hours.
  • Shipping products in days when others would schedule quarters.
  • Partnering with teams across time zones to deliver insights while the story is still unfolding.
  • Building new solutions from first principles when the playbook doesn’t yet exist.
  • Protecting victims and customers by tracing illicit activity and disrupting criminal networks.
Join our Mission

At TRM we care deeply about our craft. We are looking for individuals who want their work to matter, who experiment with speed and rigor, and who take pride in building a safer world for billions of people. If you’re excited by TRM’s mission but don’t check every box, we encourage you to apply — we hire for slope, judgment, and the will to learn fast.

TRM is a Series C company with $220M in total funding, backed by Blockchain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, TRM operates as a distributed-first company with hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C., London, and Singapore.

Recruitment agencies

TRM Labs does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to TRM employees. TRM Labs is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes and will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company without a signed agreement.

Privacy Policy

By submitting your application, you are agreeing to allow TRM to process your personal information in accordance with the TRM Privacy Policy

Learn More: Company Values | Interviewing | FAQs

Top Skills

AI
Cloud Platforms
Data Processing Frameworks
Distributed Systems
Full-Stack Frameworks
Ml
Node.js
Postgres
Python
React
SQL
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The Company
HQ: San Francisco, CA
175 Employees
Year Founded: 2018

What We Do

TRM Labs is a blockchain intelligence company that helps financial institutions, crypto businesses and government agencies detect and investigate crypto-related financial crime and fraud. Every day, we tackle challenges in data engineering, data science, and threat intelligence to advance our mission to build a safer financial system for billions of people.

We have raised over $79M from JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Citi, PayPal, Block, Initialized Capital, Tiger Global, Bessemer, and Y Combinator.

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