Field Application Engineer

Job description

ABOUT US Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces. Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected. ABOUT THE ROLE You will join the Test Bench team — the team building the software and hardware systems that automate our production line testing systems. As a Forward-Deployed Engineer, you are the product owner of the stations on the floor. Where Automation Software Engineers build the technology, you make it work in production: reliably, ergonomically, and at industrial grade. You will own deployed test stations, drive their continuous improvement, and act as the primary feedback channel between the factory floor and the engineering team. RESPONSIBILITIES STATION OWNERSHIP & INDUSTRIAL HARDENING - Take ownership of deployed test stations and make them production-grade: mechanically robust, operator-friendly, and maintainable under real production conditions. - Diagnose and resolve hardware, software, and integration issues at the station level; escalate to Automation Software Engineers when a software change is required, with a clear spec of what needs to change and why. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT & OPERATOR ADOPTION - Identify recurring failure modes and friction points — not just technical, but workflow and ergonomic — and work with the engineering team to implement lasting fixes. - Build and maintain operator trust: a station that works technically but that operators avoid is not done. Your measure of success is adoption, not completion. R&D & ENGINEERING COLLABORATION - Translate floor observations into structured, actionable feedback for the engineering team: what operators are actually doing, what is breaking, what is slowing the line down, and why. - Own new station bring-up on the floor: work alongside Automation Software Engineers during integration, validate that the station meets production requirements, and sign off on readiness. - Perform hardware interventions on stations and integrate new hardware systems on the floor — sensors, cameras, instruments — getting them communicating with the existing stack. CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS - 2+ years of hands-on experience in a production, field deployment, or industrial environment — manufacturing or robotics background preferred. - Comfortable with hardware: wiring, fixture work, component swaps, and basic electrical troubleshooting. - Comfortable with 3D CAD design and mechanical integration. Experience working on control cabinets is a plus. - Comfortable with Python and Linux: able to read logs, run diagnostic scripts, modify configurations, and debug a misbehaving system at the command line. You don’t need to be a software engineer, but you can’t be afraid of a terminal. - Strong instinct for root cause analysis: you distinguish symptoms from causes, and you look for a second root cause when the first fix doesn’t fully solve the problem. - Excellent communication skills: able to work effectively with operators on the floor and with engineers in Paris, and to translate between the two. Fluent in French and professional English LOCATION AND COMMITMENTS - Contract Type: CDI - Work Schedule: Full-time - Availability: ASAP - Location: On-site at our manufacturing facility (1 hour from Paris) We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.