Windward is the leading Maritime AI™ company, delivering mission-grade, multi-source intelligence for defense, intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and global trade. With an established US entity and a growing footprint in Washington, DC, we are now taking the next strategic step: standing up a dedicated US R&D function.
This role is the foundation of that effort. As Director, US R&D, you will be the first person to initiate and build Windward's R&D arm in the United States — working within an existing US organization, but creating something entirely new: a cleared, GovCloud-native engineering capability purpose-built to serve US federal customers at the highest classification levels.
You will own the migration of Windward's platform to a US Government Cloud environment, build and lead the US engineering team, and serve as the primary technical interface between our federal agency customers and Windward's global product and engineering organization.
What you'll do
Establish Windward's US R&D Function
Define the structure, processes, and operating model for Windward's inaugural US R&D team.
Hire, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of cleared engineers and DevOps practitioners.
Work within the existing US entity to integrate the new R&D function with current commercial and business development operations.
Partner closely with Windward's 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.
Bridge the gap between US federal customers and Windward's global organization — ensuring customer needs are heard, understood, and acted upon at speed.
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.
Requirements
Agentic-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.
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
Top Secret; TS/SCI - desired.
Willingness to support clearance upgrades as required by the mission.
Leadership & Culture
3-5 years experience managing a team of at least 5 R&D / DevOps engineers.
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.
Nice to have
Familiarity with data fusion architectures, multi-source intelligence platforms, or AI/ML deployment in CUI or classified environments — a strong