Mission Engineer - Chicago
Axon · Chicago, United States · 9d ago
Join Axon and be a Force for Good.
At Axon, we’re on a mission to Protect Life. We’re explorers, pursuing society’s most critical safety and justice issues with our ecosystem of devices and cloud software. Like our products, we work better together. We connect with candor and care, seeking out diverse perspectives from our customers, communities and each other.
Life at Axon is fast-paced, challenging and meaningful. Here, you’ll take ownership and drive real change. Constantly grow as you work hard for a mission that matters at a company where you matter.
Your Impact
This isn't a relationship management role. It's an ownership role. Sharp. Adaptable. Unstoppable.
You won't wait to be asked. You'll identify what's broken before it becomes a problem, build solutions that didn't exist yesterday, and earn the kind of trust that makes you indispensable to the agency — and to Axon.
In this embedded role, you are the primary owner of customer outcomes within a strategic account — accountable for the full lifecycle of Axon's ecosystem. You combine deep technical expertise, builder instinct, operational leadership, and executive presence to help agencies transform how they operate, not just adopt software. You embed for the long haul: opening the laptop onsite, shipping on Axon's stack, holding the room when it matters, and iterating on what you build until it sticks in production.
Success is measured by the agency's operational outcomes and working solutions in production — not product health, not activity, not slideware.
What You'll Do
This role is intentionally undefined in the day-to-day. Priorities shift with agency mission tempo, operational crises, and emerging opportunities. If you need a fixed playbook to succeed, this isn't the role for you.
Building is the job. You will use Axon's platform — AI Era, agents, workflows, integrations, and data tools — to design, build, and ship new capabilities on site. You own outcomes end to end across deployment, adoption, optimization, and ongoing success — as the accountable owner, not a coordinator of other teams' work.
Onsite Building & Platform Delivery
- Discover agency problems onsite and translate them into buildable, compliant solutions tied to mission outcomes
- Design and ship working tools on Axon's platform: AI agents, workflows, automations, integrations, and data pipelines — built and tested with real users and real data
- Build with Axon products, not around them — configure, integrate, and extend DEMS, Fusus, AI Era, Records, and related systems in the agency environment
- Iterate in the field until adoption sticks, then document patterns for reuse across accounts
- Apply responsible innovation guardrails — CJIS, evidence integrity, privacy — in every build. Ship working software, not slideware
- Troubleshoot onsite and coordinate root-cause resolution across Product, Engineering, Support, and Services when builds or integrations break
AI Build & Adoption
- Build and deploy AI-powered workflows (agents, prompts, RAG, evaluations) that solve defined agency problems — not generic experimentation
- Drive hands-on adoption with the people who use what you build daily
- Measure whether changes stick — usage, workflow impact, mission outcomes — and iterate when they don't
Operational Transformation & Leadership
- Assess workflows onsite, identify friction and mission impact, and define what to build before you build it
- Move from reactive support to proactive outcome design — arrive with hypotheses, validate with command staff and operators, then build to match
- Build trusted relationships with agency leadership and operational stakeholders; lead QBRs, mission reviews, and strategic planning
- Define success metrics and capture baselines before major deployments so impact is proven, not assumed
Field Intelligence & Growth
- Capture customer insights, workflow patterns, and adoption barriers; share field intelligence with Product and Engineering to influence roadmap decisions
- Turn one-off builds into reusable playbooks and operational frameworks
- Identify expansion opportunities based on demonstrated impact; partner with Sales on long-term account strategy
Onsite Engagement & Outcomes
- Maintain consistent onsite presence (approximately 3-4 days/week), closely connected to agency operations and evolving needs
- Track customer success metrics: time-to-first-production-use, adoption depth by role and site, workflow improvements, and mission outcomes
- Support Sales → Post-Sales onboarding and handoff, establishing goals and accountability from day one
What You Bring
Required
- Experience in customer-facing technical roles, program management, operational transformation, or complex deployment environments (typically 8+ years; varied experience welcome)
- Former law enforcement or military experience preferred, not required
- Proven builder: you have shipped working automations, agents, workflows, integrations, or AI-enabled tools in customer environments — configuring products, writing integration logic, and delivering production-ready solutions. Using AI to assist is expected; owning the build is required
- Comfort working across technical and operational domains: hardware, software, cloud, AI-enabled technologies, and integrated systems
- Strong communication with both technical teams and senior stakeholders, including command staff in mission-critical environments
- Full ownership mentality in ambiguous, fast-changing environments; ability to navigate competing priorities across Product, Engineering, Sales, Support, and Services
- Ability to obtain and maintain CJIS compliance and adhere to security standards
Preferred
- Experience in public safety, law enforcement, corrections, or other mission-critical operational environments
- Familiarity with Records, Evidence, digital workflows, AI-enabled platforms, or integrated public safety ecosystems
- Background in forward-deployed engineering, solutions architecture, or operational transformation at scale
Additional Information
We recognize that candidates may bring strengths from different backgrounds and experiences. If your experience aligns closely with this role, we encourage you to apply.
This role is for builders who earn trust in the room — not for those looking for a predictable schedule or narrowly defined responsibilities. Every week looks different. That's the job.
Benefits that Benefit You
- Competitive salary and 401(k) with employer match
- Discretionary paid time off
- Paid parental leave for all
- Medical, dental, and vision plans
- Fitness programs
- Emotional and mental wellness support
- Learning and development programs
- And yes, we have snacks in our offices
Axon is a total compensation company, meaning compensation is made up of base pay, bonus, and stock awards. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as: level, function, training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, geographic market, and often a combination of all these factors. Our benefits offer an array of options to help support you physically, financially and emotionally through the big milestones and in your everyday life. To see more details on our benefits offerings please visit https://www.axon.com/careers.
Don’t meet every single requirement? That's ok. At Axon, we Aim Far. We think big with a long-term view because we want to reinvent the world to be a safer, better place. We are also committed to building diverse teams that reflect the communities we serve.
Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they check every box in the job description. If you’re excited about this role and our mission to Protect Life but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed here, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
Important Notes
The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all duties, responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. The job description may change or be supplemented at any time in accordance with business needs and conditions.
Some roles may also require legal eligibility to work in a firearms environment.
We collect personal information from applicants to evaluate candidates for employment. You may request access, deletion, or exercise other CCPA rights at axongreenhousesupport@axon.com or via our Axon Privacy Web Form. For more information, please see the Your California Privacy Rights section of our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Notice.
Axon’s mission is to Protect Life and is committed to the well-being and safety of its employees as well as Axon’s impact on the environment. All Axon employees must be aware of and committed to the appropriate environmental, health, and safety regulations, policies, and procedures. Axon employees are empowered to report safety concerns as they arise and activities potentially impacting the environment.
We are an equal opportunity employer that promotes justice, advances equity, values diversity and fosters inclusion. We’re committed to hiring the best talent — regardless of race, creed, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances — and empowering all of our employees so they can do their best work. If you have a disability or special need that requires assistance or accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email recruitingops@axon.com. Please note that this email address is for accommodation purposes only. Axon will not respond to inquiries for other purposes.
Phishing alert: Axon will never ask you to pay for any part of the hiring process, including training, equipment, or background checks. We do not make job offers via text message, WhatsApp, or instant messaging platforms without a formal interview process. All legitimate job openings are listed on our official careers page at https://www.axon.com/careers. If you receive a suspicious offer or outreach from an email address that is not @axon.com, or if you are asked for sensitive personal information (bank details, Social Security Number) prematurely, please ignore the message and report it to recruitingops@axon.com.