Forward Deployed Engineer

Location

San Francisco, CA / New York, NY

Hybrid role with up to 30% travel to partner/customer sites.

Compensation

$150,000 – $200,000 Base + $250,000 – $350,000 OTE + Competitive Equity

Visa

Open to Visa Transfers (OPT, H1B Transfers) + Relocation

Company Stage

Seed / Early-Stage – Technology Transformation / AI Company

Industry

Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Enterprise Technology, Business Transformation, AI Applications, Data & Automation

About the Company

Our client is building a new category of technology transformation company focused on applying frontier technology to real-world businesses.

The company combines software engineering, artificial intelligence, and business transformation to help founder-led companies dramatically improve how they operate, grow, and create value.

The team is made up of highly experienced engineers and operators who have previously built and scaled major commercial technology organizations and enterprise software systems.

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll work directly with partner companies, executives, operators, and frontline users to identify high-impact opportunities and build technology that produces measurable business outcomes.

This is not a traditional software engineering role. You'll operate at the intersection of engineering, product, business strategy, and customer engagement — owning problems from initial discovery through deployment and adoption.

You'll have significant autonomy and will be expected to create structure where there is no predefined roadmap, translate ambiguous business problems into technical systems, and take responsibility for the outcome.

What You'll Do

• Build and deploy production software that solves real business problems
• Build AI-powered systems, data workflows, automation tools, and operational applications
• Work directly with executives, operators, and frontline users at partner companies
• Understand how businesses operate and identify opportunities where technology can create meaningful impact
• Translate ambiguous business problems into technical solutions
• Own projects end-to-end from discovery through deployment and adoption
• Develop full-stack software applications and internal operational tools
• Build AI-native workflows using modern AI and LLM tools
• Analyze business processes and identify opportunities for automation
• Develop data workflows and systems that improve operational efficiency
• Work directly with customers to understand their needs and technical challenges
• Co-author transformation roadmaps with business and technical stakeholders
• Help determine what technology should be built, scaled, automated, or redesigned
• Make architecture and implementation decisions independently
• Rapidly prototype and productionize solutions
• Deploy software directly into real business environments
• Iterate quickly based on user feedback and measurable outcomes
• Work across multiple technical domains depending on the business problem
• Collaborate with technical and non-technical stakeholders throughout engagements
• Create structure and clarity in ambiguous environments
• Take ownership of business outcomes rather than simply completing technical tasks
• Travel to partner/customer sites and work directly with teams on the ground
• Work in concentrated bursts at customer locations when required
• Help identify organizational and operational changes enabled by new technology
• Use AI tools daily to accelerate software development, analysis, and automation
• Stay current with emerging AI and frontier technology capabilities
• Operate with high autonomy and strong execution velocity
• Balance technical quality with business impact and speed
• Help shape the company's approach to technology transformation

Ideal Candidate Background

Experience Requirements

• 2–5 years of relevant post-college experience in software engineering, full-stack engineering, or Forward Deployed Engineering
• Experience building and deploying production software
• Experience working at early-stage or growth-stage technology companies
• Strong core software engineering background
• Experience owning projects from concept through production
• Experience working directly with users, customers, or business stakeholders preferred
• Experience solving ambiguous technical problems without a predefined roadmap
• Experience working in fast-moving environments with high ownership
• Demonstrated ability to understand business problems and translate them into technical solutions
• Experience working across multiple technical domains
• Strong track record of increasing scope and ownership
• Stable employment history with meaningful tenure in previous roles
• Experience working closely with founders, executives, or senior stakeholders preferred
• Strong curiosity about business operations and technology
• Ability to operate independently without extensive management or structure

Technical Requirements

• Deep proficiency in at least one programming language or framework
• Strong Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, C, Java, or comparable programming experience
• Strong software engineering fundamentals
• Ability to write high-quality production code
• Experience building and deploying software into real production environments
• Experience with full-stack development preferred
• Experience working with APIs and backend systems
• Experience with databases and data workflows
• Experience building automation or operational tools
• Familiarity with AI/LLM tools and modern AI development workflows
• Ability to use AI tools to accelerate coding, analysis, and automation
• Strong debugging and technical problem-solving ability
• Ability to rapidly prototype technical solutions
• Ability to take prototypes through productionization
• Understanding of software architecture and system design
• Ability to work across unfamiliar technical domains
• Strong ability to learn new technologies quickly
• Experience working with cloud infrastructure preferred
• Experience with data engineering or analytics workflows preferred
• Ability to reason about technical tradeoffs and business impact
• Strong understanding of production reliability and deployment practices

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or related technical field preferred
• Strong technical education from a rigorous university environment preferred for early-career candidates
• Equivalent practical engineering experience accepted
• Demonstrated technical ability and strong work experience can outweigh educational pedigree

Soft Skills

• Exceptional ownership and execution ability
• Strong user and customer empathy
• High intellectual curiosity
• Ability to understand complex business environments quickly
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Clear and concise communication
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Comfortable working directly with executives and business leaders
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments
• Strong bias toward action
• High execution velocity
• Ability to create structure where none exists
• Strong business judgment
• Strong technical judgment
• Comfortable making independent decisions
• Ability to prioritize based on business impact
• Strong collaboration skills
• High emotional intelligence
• Low-ego working style
• Comfortable challenging assumptions
• Strong interest in how businesses operate
• Strong desire to understand the "why" behind technical problems
• Comfortable learning new technologies quickly
• Excited about AI and frontier technology
• Comfortable working directly with customers
• Comfortable traveling to customer sites in concentrated bursts
• Comfortable operating in a small, high-talent-density startup environment
• Willing to work across engineering, product, business, and strategy
• Strong desire to own outcomes rather than simply deliver features

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $150,000 – $200,000
• OTE: $250,000 – $350,000
• Competitive equity package
• Meaningful early-stage ownership opportunity
• Opportunity to work directly with experienced technology founders
• Exposure to frontier AI and emerging technologies
• Opportunity to work directly with executives and business leaders
• High ownership over technical and business outcomes
• Opportunity to work across multiple industries and business environments
• Exposure to software engineering, AI, automation, and business transformation
• Fast-paced startup environment with minimal bureaucracy
• Significant technical and professional growth opportunity
• Hybrid work in San Francisco or New York
• Travel opportunities to partner/customer sites
• Visa transfer support
• Relocation support

Why Join

This is an opportunity to join a highly technical team building a new model for technology transformation.

You'll work directly with business leaders and engineering teams to identify important problems, design solutions, and deploy technology that creates measurable business outcomes.

Unlike traditional software engineering roles, you'll have visibility into the entire problem — from understanding how a company operates to deciding what should be built, deploying the system, and measuring whether it actually worked.

You'll operate with significant autonomy while working alongside experienced technology leaders who have built and scaled major software organizations.

If you enjoy software engineering, AI, solving ambiguous problems, working directly with users, and having ownership over real-world outcomes, this role offers exceptional breadth, compensation, and career acceleration.