Senior Systems Integration Engineer, FDE

About Ditto:

Ditto is redefining how data moves at the edge. Our mission is to make it seamless for developers to build resilient, real-time applications, regardless of network conditions. Whether you're in a stadium, airplane, or remote military base, Ditto's peer-to-peer sync engine ensures devices stay connected and data stays consistent, even without internet. With more than $145 million in funding and trusted by organizations like Chick-fil-A, Delta Airlines, and the U.S. military, Ditto powers mission-critical experiences across aviation, retail, travel, hospitality, defense, and more. As a globally distributed, fast-growing startup, we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the wide range of perspectives needed to solve the world’s hardest connectivity problems.

About the Position

As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you are the technical tip of the spear. FDEs are elite, versatile engineers who work shoulder-to-shoulder with our most critical users to solve complex challenges in real time. Your primary mission is to radically decrease the time-to-value of our software by integrating it directly into the user's operational environment.

Because you see firsthand how our technology performs in the wild, you will also act as a crucial conduit, feeding technical insights and feature requirements back to our core product engineering team. This role requires a highly adaptable problem-solver who is comfortable moving fast, navigating ambiguity, and figuring things out quickly in high-stakes environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect End-to-End System Integrations: Design and implement the full integration stack that connects our software to the SOCOM operational ecosystem, including TAK (Team Awareness Kit) servers, tactical datalinks, and mission command systems.

• Implement Cursor-on-Target (CoT) Pipelines: Build, deploy, and maintain robust CoT event ingestion and dissemination pipelines that enable real-time situational awareness across disparate systems and classification levels.

• Design Datalink and System Interfaces: Engineer software adapters and translation layers that bridge our platform with legacy and modern datalink protocols, ensuring bidirectional interoperability with the broader C2 architecture.

• Solve Problems in Real-Time: Act as the first line of technical defense at SOCOM sites, rapidly diagnosing and resolving integration failures, data flow interruptions, and system interoperability issues as they arise.

• Bridge the Gap: Translate the unique, edge-case operational realities you observe (e.g., non-standard TAK configurations, datalink format variations, multi-vendor system conflicts) into actionable technical requirements and system design proposals for the core product development team.

What You'll Need

• Clearance Requirement: Must hold an active Secret clearance (Due to federal security clearance requirements, U.S. Citizenship is strictly required for this role).

• 5+ years of experience in systems integration engineering, software engineering, or technical program execution. This includes hands-on experience integrating software with military C2 systems, sensor platforms, or tactical communications systems.

• 2+ years of technical experience with Cursor-on-Target (CoT) message formats and TAK ecosystem tools (TAK Server, ATAK, WinTAK), including standing up servers, configuring data feeds, and debugging message flows.

• Demonstrated experience with system design for complex, multi-vendor integration environments. You should be able to whiteboard a full data flow from a sensor to a display, identify integration seams, and propose solutions across protocol and format boundaries.

• A highly adaptable, problem-solving mindset, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, move fast, and balance immediate operational fixes with long-term technical fidelity.

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal. As the crucial bridge between the operational edge and our core development team, you must be able to translate complex, edge-case technical realities and user workflows into clear, actionable requirements for product engineers.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with tactical datalink protocols beyond CoT, including Link 16, VMF, or JREAP, and an understanding of how these datalinks feed into the broader joint C2 picture.

• Familiarity with SOF-specific mission