Engineering Manager, FDE

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.

We're building the FDE function at Ditto. This is the person who stands it up.

You'll hire and lead a team of forward deployed engineers who embed directly with our most critical customers. Your team ships production code in the field, owns the technical outcome end-to-end, and brings what they learn back to shape the product. They don't file tickets and wait. They solve the problem.

This is a player-coach role. You will be hands-on, particularly early. You'll deploy alongside your team, debug distributed systems in constrained environments, and prototype solutions with customers before handing patterns back to core engineering. As the team grows, you'll shift toward hiring, developing talent, staffing engagements, and building the playbooks that turn one-off wins into repeatable delivery.

The challenges are unpredictable. The environments range from MANET-connected tactical edges to enterprise aviation infrastructure. You'll need to be comfortable with ambiguity, austere conditions, and making decisions without asking permission.

• 8+ years building software or delivering technical solutions in complex environments. At least 2 of those managing customer-facing or forward deployed engineers.

• You can read and review production code across backend and systems layers. Rust, Go, C++, Python, or equivalent. You don't have to write it daily, but you need to know when something is wrong.

• Experience with distributed systems, edge computing, or infrastructure deployment in constrained environments. You understand what eventual consistency and disconnected sync actually mean when the network drops.

• You build trust through directness and truth. If we can't do it, you build it, or you tell them what would solve their problem. Customers trust Ditto because of interactions with people like you.

• You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and owning the consequences.

• Experience with DoD, IC, or federal customers and familiarity with classified or air-gapped network environments.

• Hands-on experience with ATAK, TAK Server, or MANET deployments.

• Familiarity with CRDTs, local-first architectures, or peer-to-peer sync technologies.

• Background in solutions engineering, consulting, or pre-sales technical roles.

• Someone who manages from a desk. If you haven't been in front of a customer in the last month, something is wrong.

• Someone who needs a fully built process before they can operate. There is no existing playbook. You write it.

• Someone who optimizes for looking busy. We measure outcomes: did the customer succeed? Did the product get better? Did the team grow?

At Ditto, we know game-changers don’t always come wrapped in a “perfect” resume. Years of experience? Every single bullet point checked? Meh. That’s not what drives us.

What does matter?

• Grit.

• Curiosity.

• Adaptability.

• And a genuine spark for what we’re building.

So if you’re fired up about our mission but not sure you tick every box - hit that apply button anyway. Use your application to show us how you’ll make an impact here.

We’re always on the lookout for exceptional humans who want to grow, stretch, and build something meaningful with us.

Ditto is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Ditto is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know.