Senior Staff Software Engineer

The posting, as Forterra wrote it

About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role
Forterra is expanding its mission through Vektor, a next-generation, edge-deployed, software-defined communications and smart data-brokering layer built for disrupted, degraded, intermittent, and low bandwidth (DDIL) environments. Joining the Vektor team means helping shape how humans and autonomous systems stay connected when it matters most.

We are seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to deploy, operate, and troubleshoot Vektor's network infrastructure across field sites and cloud environments. You'll be hands-on with routers, switches, radios, and Linux-based appliances — configuring them, automating them, and making sure they perform under real-world constraints. This role requires approximately 50% travel to customer and field locations for site installations, maintenance, and support.

What you'll do
We're looking for engineers who are equally comfortable behind a terminal and behind a rack, care deeply about uptime and security, and enjoy solving problems that span Layer 2 through the application stack. As a core member of the infrastructure team, you will:

Design, deploy, and maintain L2/L3 network infrastructure across Vektor's install base — routing, switching, VLANs, trunking, QoS, and VPN tunnels.

• Configure and operate Linux-based network appliances using systemd-networkd, Netplan, iptables, StrongSwan, and WireGuard.
• Build and maintain infrastructure-as-code (Ansible, Terraform) to automate provisioning and configuration of network and compute resources.
• Collect, analyze, and act on network telemetry using Grafana, Telegraf, and related tooling.
• Deploy and manage AWS GovCloud and Commercial infrastructure (EC2, VPC, Transit Gateway, Security Groups) that supports Vektor's cloud-side services.
• Travel to customer and field sites (~50%) for installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, and ongoing support of deployed systems.
• Collaborate across engineering in design reviews and deployment planning, mentor teammates, and drive best practices for network operations and automation.

Minimum Qualifications

• 11+ years of professional Network/Systems engineering experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on network engineering experience (v

[…]
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• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: click here .
Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.
Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.
To see Forterra’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice .