Forward Deployed Engineer

Location

San Francisco, CA / New York City, NY

On-site role in either San Francisco or New York City.

Compensation

$150,000 – $225,000 Base + Competitive Equity

Visa

Open to visa transfers and sponsorship, including new or renewed visas.

Company Stage

Growth-Stage AI / Enterprise Automation Company

Industry

Artificial Intelligence, Enterprise Software, AI Automation, B2B SaaS, Workflow Automation, Enterprise Technology, Applied AI

About the Company

Our client is building an AI-native platform that enables enterprises to automate complex business processes and fundamentally transform how work gets done.

The company works directly with some of the world's largest organizations to replace load-bearing workflows that previously required thousands of human hours with AI-powered software and automation.

The company operates at the intersection of artificial intelligence, enterprise software, and operational transformation. Rather than building incremental features, the team works directly with customers to understand complex processes, design new solutions, and deploy them into production environments.

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll own strategic customer deployments end-to-end — from initial discovery and process mining through architecture, implementation, iteration, and global rollout.

This is a highly autonomous role combining software engineering, customer partnership, product thinking, and operational execution. You'll work directly with enterprise customers while building production-grade applications and automations that materially change how their businesses operate.

What You'll Do

• Own strategic enterprise customer deployments from initial discovery through production rollout
• Conduct extensive process mining with customers to understand complex business workflows
• Break down ambiguous enterprise processes into precise, actionable technical requirements
• Work directly with customers to understand their operational challenges and identify automation opportunities
• Build robust automations using AI-powered programming tools and the company's AI-English-based programming language
• Design and implement production-grade software and automation systems
• Architect solutions that are reliable, scalable, and capable of operating in complex enterprise environments
• Build full-stack applications end-to-end based on customer requirements
• Translate customer workflows into software systems and automated processes
• Work directly with enterprise stakeholders to iterate on implementations
• Partner closely with customers throughout deployment and adoption
• Scale solutions from initial pilots to full production volume
• Troubleshoot complex technical and operational problems during deployments
• Own the outcome of customer projects rather than simply completing assigned engineering tasks
• Balance technical quality with speed and customer impact
• Make independent technical and product decisions in ambiguous environments
• Develop deep understanding of customer workflows and business operations
• Build lasting relationships with enterprise customers
• Define and document deployment best practices
• Help establish repeatable implementation patterns for future customers
• Collaborate closely with internal engineering, product, and leadership teams
• Identify opportunities to improve the company's deployment methodology and technology
• Operate with a high level of urgency and intensity
• Take responsibility for solving problems rather than waiting for direction
• Help shape how AI-powered software is deployed across major enterprises

Ideal Candidate Background

Experience Requirements

• 2–8 years of experience as a software engineer
• Strong software engineering background with experience building production applications
• Full-stack or backend-focused engineering experience
• Experience owning products or applications end-to-end
• Experience shipping software from ideation through production
• Experience working directly with customers or business stakeholders preferred
• Experience operating in fast-moving startup environments preferred
• Experience working in ambiguous, loosely defined problem spaces
• Demonstrated ability to independently solve complex technical problems
• Strong ownership mentality with a track record of driving outcomes
• Ability to work at high speed and in high-intensity environments
• Experience at reputable startups, high-growth technology companies, or similarly demanding environments preferred
• Prior founding engineer or founder experience preferred
• Experience combining engineering with another function such as product, sales, growth, or operations preferred

Technical Requirements

• Strong software engineering fundamentals
• Ability to build and ship a full-stack application independently
• Strong backend engineering capabilities
• Strong programming skills and production coding experience
• Ability to design and implement reliable software systems
• Comfortable working across frontend and backend systems
• Experience building customer-facing software
• Ability to translate ambiguous requirements into working software
• Strong debugging and technical problem-solving ability
• Ability to architect solutions from first principles
• Comfortable working with AI-powered development tools
• Ability to rapidly build and iterate on software
• Strong understanding of APIs, data models, and application architecture
• Ability to work across the technical stack when required
• Comfortable deploying and operating production software
• Ability to learn new technical systems quickly
• Strong technical judgment when deciding whether to build, integrate, or leverage existing infrastructure

Education

• Top university preferred, particularly for candidates without experience at reputable startups or technology companies
• Strong technical or quantitative academic background preferred
• Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent technical disciplines preferred
• Exceptional practical engineering experience can compensate for academic pedigree

Soft Skills

• Extremely high agency and ownership
• Founder-like mentality
• Strong bias toward action
• Comfortable running toward difficult problems
• Highly independent and self-directed
• Comfortable operating with limited structure
• Strong interpersonal range
• Able to build trust quickly with enterprise customers
• Comfortable communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Strong customer empathy
• Excellent problem-solving ability
• Comfortable working through ambiguity
• High intensity and urgency
• Fast learner
• Strong judgment
• Comfortable taking responsibility for outcomes
• Strong business and product intuition
• Comfortable working directly with customers
• Able to balance customer needs with technical constraints
• Strong communication skills
• Comfortable iterating quickly based on feedback
• Willing to work across engineering, product, and customer-facing responsibilities
• Excited by solving real-world business problems rather than only writing code
• Comfortable working onsite in San Francisco or New York City

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $150,000 – $225,000
• Competitive equity package
• Opportunity to work directly with major enterprise customers
• Ownership of high-impact customer deployments
• Opportunity to build production AI-powered software
• Exposure to complex enterprise workflows and operational transformation
• Opportunity to work at the forefront of AI automation
• High degree of autonomy and ownership
• Direct exposure to strategic customers and business leaders
• Opportunity to shape deployment methodologies and engineering practices
• Fast-paced environment with significant technical and professional growth
• Opportunity to work across engineering, product, and customer-facing functions
• Visa transfers and sponsorship available

Why Join

This is an opportunity to join an AI-native company building software that fundamentally changes how some of the world's largest enterprises operate.

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll work directly with major customers to understand complex business processes, build production-grade automations, and deploy software that can replace workflows previously requiring thousands of human hours.

You'll have an unusually broad scope — combining software engineering, customer partnership, product thinking, and operational execution. Rather than sitting behind a keyboard working on isolated features, you'll own real business outcomes and see your work directly impact how companies operate.

If you enjoy high ownership, fast-paced environments, customer-facing engineering, solving ambiguous problems, building from scratch, and using technology to solve real business problems, this role offers exceptional scope and impact.