Precision Federal · Remote (U.S.) · Engagement begins at contract award · U.S. persons
About Precision Federal
Precision Federal builds AI, machine-learning and signal-processing systems for federal agencies through the SBIR and STTR programs — the government's research funds for small firms solving hard technical problems. We are a Christian-owned small business, and that shows up in one operating rule rather than in our marketing: every number we publish is real and every claim we make is checkable. Our proposals are backed by working systems we build and measure before we ask the government for a dollar.
The firm is young, lean, and bidding at high volume across defense AI: RF and radar signal processing, electronic protection, computer vision and automatic target recognition, multi-agent autonomy, edge inference on constrained hardware, PNT in denied environments, and radiation-effects modeling.
How this role actually works — read this part first
This is not a conventional job posting, and we would rather be plain about it than have you find out later.
Federal SBIR proposals must name their key personnel before award. We are looking for a principal-level engineer who will:
Now — allow us to name you as Principal Engineer on proposals in your technical area, with your résumé included. This is a standing permission rather than a per-proposal approval — we bid at volume — and you can withdraw it at any time.
At award — join the funded work, paid from the contract budget. Remote, part-time, typically over a six- to twelve-month period of performance, and often compatible with existing employment where your employer permits outside consulting.
Until an award lands there is no work and no obligation beyond an occasional technical exchange by email. When one lands, the engagement starts at an agreed hourly rate. We bid many of these, so a strong engineer tends to accumulate several engagements rather than one.
Who we are actually looking for
The bar is not years of experience. It is a system you built that other people depended on.
Strong candidates usually have some of:
A production system you personally architected or led, serving a named agency or program, that you can describe with a scale figure and a date
Deep work in one of: RF/radar DSP, electronic warfare or protection, SAR/EO/IR automatic target recognition, multi-agent or reinforcement learning, embedded and edge inference (FPGA, SoC, Jetson-class), GPS-denied navigation, or large-model adaptation for constrained deployment
A current or prior security clearance
Publications, patents, or a public technical record — a repository, a benchmark result, a leaderboard rank
Prior SBIR/STTR participation in any role
You do not need to be a former government employee, and you do not need to have run a company.
The screener — five questions
About ten minutes, and it is the whole application. We read every answer.
1. Are you a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident? (Federal research contracts and export-controlled work require one or the other. Both are fully eligible.)
2. May we name you as Principal Engineer or key personnel on proposals in your area — and cite your answers below? This is a standing permission for your technical area, with your résumé included. We bid at volume, so we will not be checking in on each one. You can withdraw it at any time and we will stop. ☐ Yes to both ☐ Name me, but do not quote me ☐ Quote me, but do not name me on a proposal ☐ Tell me more first ☐ No
3. Name one production system you personally built or led. What it did, the agency, program or customer it served, the year, and one scale figure — requests served, models in production, platforms supported, users, throughput. One system described concretely tells us more than a long list.
4. Do you hold, or have you held, a security clearance? Which level, and is it current?
5. In your area, what is used today, where does it fall short, and roughly what does it cost when it goes wrong — in hours, people, or rework?
That is the whole application. Answering question 2 with anything other than "yes" does not take you out of consideration — we would still like to talk.
Bo Peng · Founder and Chief Technology Officer · Precision Federal · [email protected]
Pay: $90.00 - $150.00 per hour
Application Question(s):
- Are you a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident? (Federal research contracts and export-controlled work require one or the other. Both are fully eligible.)
- May we name you as Principal Engineer or key personnel on proposals in your area — and cite your answers below? This is a standing permission for your technical area, with your résumé included. We bid at volume, so we will not be checking in on each one. You can withdraw it at any time and we will stop. Please answer: Yes to both / Name me, but do not quote me / Quote me, but do not name me on a proposal / Tell me more first / No
- Name one production system you personally built or led. What it did, the agency, program or customer it served, the year, and one scale figure — requests served, models in production, platforms supported, users, throughput. One system described concretely tells us more than a long list.
- Do you hold, or have you held, a security clearance? Which level, and is it current?
- In your area, what is used today, where does it fall short, and roughly what does it cost when it goes wrong — in hours, people, or rework?
Work Location: Remote
