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Forward Deployed AI Engineer- Aerospace & Defense

IFS


Job Location:

Itasca, IL - USA

Monthly Salary: Not provided by the employer
Posted: 16 September 2026 (3 days ago)
Application Deadline: 14 December 2026
Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Job Summary

About our Aerospace & Defense business

Our Aerospace & Defense business helps the worlds leading airlines MROs OEMs and defense operators keep complex fleets and platforms mission-ready managing the full maintenance asset and service lifecycle at scale. We are changing how that software gets built: closer to the operations it serves in shorter cycles and increasingly with AI. That means investing in engineers who work at the point of contact between our products and our customers.


Qualifications :

As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer in our Aerospace & Defense business you build aviation products directly with our customers. You embed with the airlines MROs OEMs and defense operators who keep complex fleets flying work alongside their people in their own environments and turn what you see there into working software shipped quickly hardened in real operations and fed back into the product so every customer benefits. This is engineering at the point of contact: the shortest path between a customers problem and a product that solves it.

The role is deliberately broad. You build across the stack backend services and APIs data models and integrations web interfaces and you own what you ship end to end from design and testing through deployment and operational reliability in customer environments. You connect IFS to the systems that run our customers operations and you do it under real constraints: live fleets regulated processes restricted networks and firm deadlines. AI is becoming both part of how we build and part of what we ship so experience building AI-powered solutions is a strong advantage.

What youll do

  • Build with the customer. Embed with Aerospace & Defense customers on their sites and inside their systems to learn how their operation actually works then design and ship software with them rather than for them. You shorten the loop between a real problem and a working answer.
  • Ship across the stack. Design build and test full-stack features in modern general-purpose languages services and APIs data and persistence integrations and web interfaces. Breadth matters more than depth in any one framework here.
  • Integrate into real operations. Connect IFS to the systems that run our customers businesses ERP CRM IoT and telemetry and long-lived legacy and mission systems and own the solution architecture in real customer context.
  • Own delivery end to end. You build it you run it: automated testing CI/CD deployment observability and operational reliability across cloud and customer environments. When it breaks in production you are the one who makes it right.
  • Bring AI into the work. Use AI-assisted and agentic development tooling as a normal part of how you build and help take AI-powered product capabilities into customer environments where they have to hold up under real conditions.
  • Turn field work into product. Feed what you learn on site back into the core product and the roadmap so a fix for one customer becomes a capability for all of them. You work closely with product management and the wider engineering teams to make that happen.
  • Represent IFS credibly. Be the technical voice customers trust able to work through a design with their engineers explain a trade-off to an operations leader and hold your own in front of partners.

What youll bring

Essential

  • Full-stack breadth: hands-on experience designing building and shipping production software across the stack backend services and APIs data and integrations and web front ends with proficiency in modern general-purpose programming languages rather than a single domain framework.
  • Customer-facing delivery: substantial experience working directly with customers on site or embedded in their teams to deploy integrate harden and support enterprise software in their own environment including integration with systems such as ERP CRM IoT and legacy platforms.
  • End-to-end ownership: a you-build-it you-run-it mindset with real accountability for what you ship quality and automated testing CI/CD cloud and DevOps and security.
  • Senior-level autonomy: a track record of owning significant pieces of delivery with little supervision making sound architecture and shipping-quality calls under time pressure and raising the standard of the engineers around you.
  • Communication and judgement: excellent communication with technical and non-technical audiences comfort with ambiguity and shifting priorities and the instinct to ground technical decisions in direct customer evidence and business value.
  • Willingness to travel to customer sites as the work requires.

Nice to have

  • Experience building AI solutions (strongly preferred): shipping AI-powered capabilities in products model integration prompt engineering RAG agentic architectures evaluation and testing and/or using AI-assisted and agentic development tooling as a core part of your workflow.
  • Experience working in or with Aerospace & Defense organisations or on solutions for asset maintenance MRO or fleet-readiness management.
  • Experience with other enterprise asset management (EAM) field service or maintenance-management solutions.
  • Degree in Computer Science Software Engineering or a related field or equivalent practical experience.
  • Experience of agile delivery and of working with globally distributed teams.

Additional Information :

What Were Offering

  • Flexible paid time off including sick and holiday
  •  Medical dental & vision insurance
  •  401K with Company contribution
  •  Flexible spending accounts
  •  Life insurance and disability benefits
  •  Tuition assistance
  •  Community involvement and volunteering events

 

M/F/Disabled/Vet VEVRAA Federal Contractor.  We are a Drug-Free Workplace. Interested candidates should apply at: qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability or status as a protected veteran. VEVRAA Federal Contractor Equal Opportunity Employer

 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability or status as a protected veteran. VEVRAA Federal Contractor Equal Opportunity Employer


Remote Work :

Yes


Employment Type :

Full-time


About Company

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We are growing! At IFS we are constantly growing to deliver award-winning solutions to hundreds of partners and thousands of customers worldwide! We help companies who want to be their best when it matters most – at their #momentofservice. Visit https://ifs.link/IzM0px to find out mo ... View more

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