Senior Forward Deployed Engineer
Spruce Systems · United States
About SpruceID
SpruceID is building the future of digital identity. We develop privacy-preserving, standards-based identity and credentialing solutions that put individuals in control of their information while helping governments and enterprises deliver secure, seamless digital experiences.
Our technology enables organizations to issue, manage, and verify digital credentials, making it easier for people to prove who they are and access essential services without compromising their privacy.
We work closely with public-sector partners to modernize critical identity infrastructure, bringing open standards, interoperability, and user-centered design to systems that serve millions of people.
About the Role
We're looking for a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer who thrives at the intersection of software engineering, complex problem-solving, and customer delivery.
In this role, you'll work directly with state governments and enterprise partners to design, build, and deploy production-grade identity solutions. You'll own technical challenges from initial discovery through implementation, launch, and ongoing operations, working closely with customers and SpruceID's engineering, product, and design teams.
This isn't a traditional implementation or solutions engineering role. You'll write production code, make architectural decisions, solve challenging integration problems, and help shape how our technology is deployed in real-world environments.
You'll also serve as a trusted technical partner to customers, translating complex requirements into scalable, secure systems while helping influence the future of SpruceID's products.
This is a fully remote position based in the United States, with opportunities to collaborate directly with public-sector partners.
What You'll Do
Own technical delivery end to end. Lead the architecture, development, integration, and deployment of identity and credentialing solutions for government and enterprise customers.
Build and ship production software. Develop reliable backend services, APIs, and full-stack web and mobile applications that meet high standards for security, privacy, accessibility, and performance.
Work directly with customers. Partner with government stakeholders, technical teams, and delivery leads to understand business needs, navigate technical constraints, and translate requirements into working solutions.
Solve complex integration challenges. Connect SpruceID's technology with existing customer systems, infrastructure, and workflows, often in environments with unique operational and regulatory requirements.
Contribute across our technology stack. Build and maintain software across backend services, web applications, and Rust codebases, including components that run on mobile devices and in browsers.
Lead cross-functional execution. Collaborate with engineers, product managers, designers, and customer delivery teams to drive technical decisions, unblock projects, and deliver successful launches.
Guide technical strategy. Act as a trusted advisor to partners on architecture, security, interoperability, open standards, and implementation best practices.
Support production deployments. Own deployment readiness, troubleshoot issues, improve operational reliability, and help customers successfully adopt and operate our solutions.
Shape the product. Bring insights from real customer deployments back to the engineering and product teams, helping improve the scalability, usability, and maintainability of our platform.
What We're Looking For
5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a strong track record of designing, building, and shipping production systems.
Strong backend engineering experience in one or more statically typed languages such as Rust, Go, Java, or C#.
Experience building modern web applications, with an understanding of frontend frameworks, APIs, accessibility, and application security.
Demonstrated ability to own complex technical projects from architecture through production deployment.
Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure, along with modern DevOps, CI/CD, and infrastructure practices.
Experience designing integrations and working with APIs, distributed systems, and existing enterprise infrastructure.
Strong communication skills and the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to both engineering teams and nontechnical stakeholders.
Comfort working directly with customers, navigating ambiguity, and balancing technical tradeoffs against real-world delivery needs.
A pragmatic, ownership-driven mindset. You enjoy building things, solving problems, and seeing your work make it into production.
Based in the United States and willing to travel occasionally to collaborate with government and enterprise partners.
Nice to Have
Experience with digital identity technologies, verifiable credentials, digital wallets, decentralized identifiers, or related open standards.
Familiarity with cryptography, authentication, authorization, privacy engineering, or secure credential exchange.
Experience with Rust or an interest in working extensively with Rust-based systems.
Previous experience delivering software for state or federal government agencies.
Experience navigating public-sector security, compliance, accessibility, or procurement requirements.
Background in forward deployed engineering, technical consulting, solutions architecture, or customer-facing software delivery.
Why SpruceID?
At SpruceID, you'll work on technically challenging problems with meaningful real-world impact. Our team is helping build the infrastructure that will define how people prove and manage their identity in an increasingly digital world.
You'll have the opportunity to take real ownership, work directly with customers tackling important challenges, and shape both our products and how they're deployed at scale.
We value engineers who combine technical depth with curiosity, collaboration, and a bias toward shipping.
Equal Opportunity
SpruceID is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
We do not discriminate based on race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.