Forward Deployed Engineer

Forward Deployed Engineer (AI)

About RO Writer

For 50 years, RO Writer has helped independent auto repair shops across North America run smarter, faster, and more profitably. Our all-in-one, now cloud-based shop management platform covers service writing, parts catalogs, digital vehicle inspections, inventory, accounting, and customer communication, and thousands of shops depend on it every day.

We're now bringing AI into the bays and the front counter, starting with RO Writer Connect, our AI-powered marketing automation. The next step is putting AI to work on the daily workflows that eat up a shop's time.

About the Role

We're hiring our first Forward Deployed Engineer. You'll work side by side with shop owners, service advisors, and technicians to find the problems slowing them down, then build AI solutions that fix them. You'll spend your time in the shop and in the code. What works in the field becomes part of the product.

You'll report to our General Manager and help define what this function becomes at RO Writer.

Your first big win: Automating repair order creation, using AI to turn inspections, technician notes, and customer conversations into accurate, ready-to-review repair orders and estimates.

What You'll Do

• Embed with customers, remotely and on-site, to understand how their shops really run and where time and revenue are lost
• Identify high-impact workflow problems and turn them into scoped, shippable solutions
• Design, build, and deploy AI-powered workflows and agents (LLMs, RAG, tool use) that automate shop tasks such as repair order writing, estimating, and parts sourcing
• Integrate with RO Writer's platform and third-party systems (parts catalogs, accounting, payments, and more) through APIs
• Build evaluation and monitoring so AI output is accurate, grounded, and trustworthy enough for a shop to rely on
• Run pilots with customers, gather feedback, and iterate quickly
• Partner with Product and Engineering to turn successful field solutions into scalable product features
• Document what you learn and build playbooks so Support, Training, and Customer Success teams can carry it forward
• Be the voice of the customer inside engineering

What You Bring

Required

• Professional software engineering experience, with Python and/or TypeScript
• Hands-on experience building with LLMs: prompt design, agents or tool use, RAG, and evaluating output quality
• The ability to explain the AI-driven development methods that have actually worked for you over the past 18 months: how you plan, build, test, and ship software with AI, and what you'd do differently
• Experience working in small teams to produce applications and modules that improved or simplified end-user workflows
• A track record you can express in results: end-user benefit, financial impact, and quantitative measures (time saved, cost reduced, revenue gained, adoption)
• Strong experience building and consuming APIs and integrating with third-party systems
• Excellent communication skills. You can explain technical ideas to non-technical shop owners and listen well.
• Comfort with ambiguity: you can take a messy real-world problem to a working solution with little hand-holding
• Willingness to travel periodically to customer shops

Strongly preferred

• Experience in automotive, auto repair, or small-business / vertical SaaS
• Experience in a customer-facing technical role (solutions engineering, implementation, technical consulting)
• Familiarity with cloud platforms and modern deployment practices
• Experience using AI coding tools in your daily work

You might be a great fit if you've ever shown up at a customer's workplace, watched how they actually work, and gone home to build something better.

Why RO Writer

• Be the first in a brand-new function with direct access to leadership
• Work on a product with a 50-year legacy and real customers who feel your impact immediately
• Build AI that solves tangible problems for small business owners, not demos
• Remote-first

Exempt

Salary Range:

The estimated base salary range for this role is USD$117,000.00 - USD$143,000.00 per year. We include salary ranges in job postings only where required by applicable pay transparency laws, based on the jurisdictions in which the role may be performed. The posted range is a good faith estimate and reflects factors that are subject to change. Final offer amounts may vary based on job-related factors, including work location, candidate experience and expertise, and other relevant considerations.

Not Applicable

Full time employees will also be eligible for enrollment in a wide range of choices of benefits , including medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, short/long term disability, 401(k) participation (with company match).

The Company provides a minimum of 10 days of vacation for new employees , sick time based on state requirements, 8 Company-paid holidays and 2 personal holidays per year.

We recognize the value and importance of diversity and inclusion in our communities and in the workplace. We celebrate diversity and one of our goals as an employer is to create an inclusive work environment for all employees. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation including gender identity or expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other category or characteristic protected by law.

Applicants with disabilities who would like to require a reasonable accommodation related to any part of the application process may contact us at [email protected].

NOTE: If an applicant is selected to receive a conditional offer of employment, and in accordance with applicable law, a criminal background check may be conducted before the offer becomes final and employment begins. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and other applicable laws, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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