Forward Deployed Engineer (AI / Infrastructure)
Forward Deployed Engineer (AI / Infrastructure)
Location: San Francisco (Onsite, 5 days/week)
Compensation: $200K – $325K base + competitive equity
Stage: Series B ($100M+ raised from top-tier investors)
The Opportunity
A high-growth, venture-backed AI infrastructure company is building the system that replaces legacy enterprise platforms like ServiceNow.
They’ve raised over $100M from top investors and are already working with companies like Notion, Perplexity, and large enterprise customers to automate complex internal workflows using AI agents.
The product is live, in-market, and solving real problems — not an experimental layer on top of existing tools.
They’re now hiring Forward Deployed Engineers to help scale deployments and shape how the product evolves in real-world environments.
What This Role Actually Is
This is not a typical solutions or implementation role.
You will operate as a software engineer first, contributing directly to the core product, while also working closely with customers to ensure the system works in practice.
You’ll spend most of your time building — and the rest working directly with customers to:
- understand real-world constraints
- unblock deployments
- and turn edge cases into product improvements
Think:
product engineer × customer-facing engineer × early-stage builder
What You’ll Do
- Build and ship production-grade backend systems, APIs, and integrations
- Architect and deploy AI-driven workflows across enterprise environments
- Translate complex, ambiguous customer problems into scalable product features
- Work directly with customers during pilots, deployments, and feedback loops
- Contribute to the core platform alongside a high-caliber engineering team
- Help define how this function operates as the company scales
Technical Scope
This role is backend-heavy and systems-oriented.
You’ll work across:
- Backend services and APIs
- Distributed systems and integrations
- Workflow orchestration and automation
- AI/LLM-powered systems (applied, not research)
Typical stack includes:
- Python / TypeScript
- Cloud infrastructure (AWS / GCP)
- API integrations and external systems
- Event-driven architectures
What They’re Looking For
- Strong software engineering fundamentals (backend + systems)
- Ability to pass high-bar coding and system design interviews
- Experience building and shipping production systems
- Comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments
- Strong communication skills and ability to work with customers
Strong Signals
- Top-tier academic background (or equivalent signal)
- Early-stage startup or 0?1 experience
- Internships or experience at high-bar engineering companies
- Exposure to APIs, integrations, or workflow automation
- Interest in AI systems, infrastructure, or agent-based workflows
Why This Role
- Work on real-world problems, not abstract features
- High ownership from day one — no layers, no handoffs
- Direct exposure to enterprise systems and decision-making
- Build alongside a small, high-caliber team
- Learn the technical + product + customer side of building a company
Who This Is For
This role tends to resonate most with engineers who:
- want to build, not just maintain
- are curious about how systems actually work in production
- are interested in starting a company or owning products in the future
- want to move faster than they can in large, structured environments
#EP2