VP of Engineering
Engineering Manager
Arlington, VA — Full Time
The defense market is surging, but the data that drives it hasn’t kept up. Companies, government, and investors are forced to perform heavily manual processes and piece together hundreds of disparate sources to make decisions. Obviant is building a data source of truth and AI tools for defense acquisition to solve this. We fuse information from thousands of sources – structured + unstructured – to provide a cohesive picture of budget, programs, the organizations running them, and much more. Whether it’s a company navigating GTM or a program manager developing capabilities, we’re providing all sides with the intelligence they need to execute effectively. We’re growing fast and backed by top funds and DoD/national security veterans.
We believe that public sector mission sets matter above anything else. If you feel the same way, we’d love for you to join us.
The Role
We are seeking an Engineering Manager to lead, grow, and empower a high-impact engineering team building the next generation of scalable, resilient defense technology. You will balance people leadership, technical direction, and execution oversight — enabling engineers to do their best work while ensuring alignment with company and product goals.
You’ll work closely with engineering, product, and design to set direction, build momentum, and ensure that the systems we deliver meet the reliability, performance, and clarity expected of mission-critical workflows. This is a role for someone who leads from the front: a strong technical foundation, a deep care for people, and a bias toward action.
Responsibilities
Leadership & People Development
Hire, onboard, and develop world-class engineers.
Provide coaching, mentorship, regular feedback, and career development support.
Foster a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, transparency, and psychological safety.
Drive team health and engagement through effective rituals, retrospectives, and performance processes.
Empower engineers to take initiative, own outcomes, and grow their capabilities.
Technical Leadership & Delivery
Partner with senior engineers and architects to define technical direction and long-term strategy.
Guide teams through design tradeoffs, architecture decisions, and implementation quality.
Ensure effective planning, estimation, and reliable execution of engineering work.
Maintain accountability for system performance, scalability, reliability, and technical debt management.
Drop into a tactical role when needed to unblock the team or deliver business-critical outcomes.
Product & Business Alignment
Collaborate with product, design, and stakeholders to refine requirements and set priorities.
Translate business and mission goals into clear engineering outcomes and execution plans.
Ensure teams understand user value — delivering iteratively, measurably, and with urgency.
Uphold a strong connection between engineering decisions and customer impact.
Operations & Process
Establish working practices that support velocity, quality, and transparency.
Lead planning, standups, reviews, and retrospective cycles.
Manage resourcing, capacity planning, roadmap execution, and cross-team dependencies.
Monitor KPIs for delivery, system reliability, team health, and operational excellence — driving continuous improvement.
Qualifications
10+ years of engineering experience, including substantial experience leading teams
Ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI security clearance
Proven track record of developing, supporting, and scaling high-performing engineering teams
Strong technical depth across modern web, data, and/or cloud systems
Experience guiding architecture, reviewing designs, and ensuring execution quality
Demonstrated ability to turn ambiguous business needs into clear engineering plans
Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
Comfortable with the pace and expectations of a fast-growing startup
Passionate about defense, national security, and mission-driven work
Bonus:
Experience building complex data or AI systems
Background working with government, govtech, or regulated environments
Prior responsibility for reliability, SRE, observability, or infrastructure teams
Experience scaling teams through rapid growth phases
What Success Looks Like
The team is healthy, motivated, and consistently leveling up
Execution is predictable — commitments are met, surprises are rare, communication is proactive
Systems are reliable, scalable, and aligned to current and future needs
Stakeholders trust engineering delivery and value the partnership
Engineers feel empowered, supported, and able to produce their best work
Our Working Style – Why We Might Work Well Together
You care about government & are mission-oriented — Our work is important, and is critical to improving a system that impacts us all.
Perseverance and endurance — Hard problems are worth solving, and solving them can take a long time. There is no such thing as exhausting all options; it’s just time to look for new ones.
Empowerment > micro-management — We’re building a culture of high performers. Our job is to equip them with what they need and eliminate roadblocks. We trust judgment, skills, and experience.
We’re collaborative and communicate well — Constructive dialogue that takes all viewpoints into account is how we get to the right decisions. Respect, trust, and transparency are essential.
You’re really good at what you do… but it speaks for itself — High output, no ego.
You don’t mind change and are comfortable with uncertainty — We are deliberate about goals, but flexible in how we get there. We move fast, iterate, and learn constantly.
Work doesn’t feel like “work” to you — We’re passionate about what we’re building and devote real time to it, while maintaining personal balance in whatever way works best for you.
You like to move fast and have a bias toward action — Our roadmap is directional at this stage; urgency matters. We expect each other to proactively determine what needs to get done and go for it.
Integrity is never negotiable — Transparency, honesty, and respect come above all else.
Benefits & Structure
We’re a tight-knit team headquartered in Arlington, VA. We work in the office together most days and believe being in the same place is a competitive advantage.
Flexible schedule
Competitive compensation + meaningful equity
Flexible vacation time
Full health, dental, and vision insurance
Ownership in a massive, long-term opportunity
And more…