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

Categories