As Director, US R&D, you will build GovCloud-native engineering capability purpose-built to serve US federal customers at the highest classification levels.
You will own the migration of a platform to a US Government Cloud environment, build and lead the US engineering team, and serve as the primary technical interface between federal agency customers and a global product and engineering organization.
What You'll DoEstablish R&D Function- Define the structure, processes, and operating model for R&D team.
- Hire, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of cleared engineers and DevOps practitioners.
- Integrate the new R&D function with current commercial and business development operations.
- Partner closely with global R&D leadership to align the US team with the broader engineering roadmap and architecture.
Lead the GovCloud Migration- Own the end-to-end technical migration of Windward's Maritime AI™ platform to a US GovCloud environment (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or equivalent).
- Architect and implement cloud infrastructure that meets FedRAMP, IL4/IL5, CMMC, NIST 800-53, and other applicable federal compliance frameworks.
- Build and maintain the full DevOps pipeline - CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, container orchestration, observability, and incident response - within a cleared, controlled environment.
- Ensure the migrated platform meets all security, availability, and performance SLAs required for federal production deployments.
Develop and Maintain the Solution- Contribute hands-on development and technical design to platform features, integrations, and capability enhancements for the US federal market.
- Maintain, support, and continuously improve the live US production environment, acting as the escalation owner for critical issues.
- Establish engineering best practices, documentation standards, and operational runbooks for the US environment.
- Identify opportunities to adapt global platform capabilities to the specific operational and mission requirements of US federal customers.
Own the Customer Technical Relationship- Serve as the primary technical point of contact for US federal agency customers, owning the relationship from deployment through ongoing operations.
- Translate mission requirements and customer feedback into concrete engineering priorities for the global R&D team.
- Lead technical reviews, architecture sessions, and capability briefings with federal stakeholders, including program managers, technical leads, and senior agency officials.
What Success Looks Like- Windward's platform is fully operational in a US GovCloud environment, cleared and compliant for federal production use within the first year.
- A high-performing, cleared US R&D team is in place and executing at the standard Windward is known for globally.
- US federal customers experience seamless, secure deployments and feel the Windward team is a true mission partner - not just a vendor.
- The US R&D function operates as a first-class node in Windward's global engineering organization, contributing capability and insight back to the product.
RequirementsAgentic-First Mindset- Deeply committed to agentic ways of working - you default to automation, not manual process, and bring that instinct into everything you build and lead.
- Hands-on experience with AI coding and agentic development tools such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or equivalent - and a track record of embedding these into engineering workflows.
- Proven ability to drive an engineering organization toward full agentic operations: automated pipelines, self-healing infrastructure, AI-assisted development, and continuous autonomous testing and deployment.
- Passion for pushing the boundaries of what engineering teams can automate - and the credibility to bring a team along on that journey.
Experience- 10+ years of combined software engineering, DevOps, and cloud infrastructure experience, with at least 3-5 years in a senior technical leadership role.
- Proven, hands-on experience deploying and operating workloads in US GovCloud environments (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or equivalent).
- Strong developer background with proficiency in at least one modern language (Python, Go, Java, or similar) and cloud-native, microservices architectures.
- Experience building or leading technical teams in cleared environments, including hiring for and maintaining security clearances.
- Demonstrated track record as a customer-facing technical leader, comfortable engaging with senior government stakeholders at program and executive levels.
Technical Depth- Deep knowledge of federal compliance frameworks: FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, IL4/IL5, CMMC, and/or ITAR.
- Hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, Terraform, GitOps pipelines, and modern observability tooling in restricted or air-gapped environments.
- Familiarity with data fusion architectures, multi-source intelligence platforms, or AI/ML deployment in CUI or classified environments - a strong advantage.
- Comfort with REST APIs, data engineering, and cloud security fundamentals (identity, access controls, encryption at rest and in transit).
- Experience integrating with or deploying Palantir platforms (Gotham, Foundry, AIP) in federal environments - a significant advantage. Former Palantir employees are strongly encouraged to apply.
Clearance & Eligibility- Active Top Secret; TS/SCI .
- Willingness to support clearance upgrades as required by the mission.
Leadership & Culture- Builder mindset - energized by creating from scratch, comfortable navigating ambiguity, and focused on outcomes over process.
- Exceptional communicator - credible with mission operators, technical peers, and C-level executives alike.
- Team-first orientation - collaborative, transparent, and invested in the growth of the people around you.
- Aligned with Windward's mission: delivering intelligence that matters, to people whose decisions matter.
$170,000 - $200,000 a year
