Forward Deployed AI Engineer REQ_55, REQ_56

3Pillar; Montreal; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

3Pillar, an AI transformation partner, seeks a Forward Deployed Engineer to blend advanced software delivery with client architecture in Canada and beyond.

You will quickly prototype proofs-of-concept, embed with client engineering teams, and deploy production-grade code across platforms, data pipelines, and integrations.

Daily work spans discovery, hands-on development, and strategic advisory, collaborating with sales, solutions, and customer stakeholders to deliver measurable AI value.

Qualifications

• Senior/Staff-Level Engineering Background with production-grade systems experience.
• Polyglot with strong backend fluency and API/system integration patterns.
• Deep cloud competence across AWS/Azure/Google Cloud.
• Strong consultative problem solving and client-facing communication.
• Ability to land in unfamiliar codebases and start delivering fast.

Responsibilities

• Technical Discovery & Rapid Prototyping with sales and solutions teams.
• Hands-on client deployment and production-grade code delivery.
• Integration across diverse environments and cloud providers.
• Onboarding, documentation, and architecture hand-offs to delivery teams.

Skills

Senior/Staff-Level Engineering

Polyglot & Systems Fluency

Cloud Architecture

Consultative Problem Solving

Execution Speed

Python

Job description

3Pillar is an AI transformation partner on a mission to help enterprises build the AI-native products and intelligent agents that will define the next era of business. With teams across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, we work with the most ambitious companies in financial services, healthcare, media, and technology — helping them move faster, modernize boldly, and compete on their own terms. Our HelixAI platform and Helix Pods delivery model put our engineers at the center of real agentic transformation — doing work that is open, portable, and built to last. We are building the future of enterprise AI.

Location: Canada (Remote/Hybrid), open to US

Position Overview

The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is a highly technical, customer-facing engineering role that sits at the intersection of complex software development and strategic client architecture. FDEs work directly with prospective and existing enterprise clients to understand their architectural challenges, rapidly build high-impact proofs-of-concept (PoCs), and embed within client engineering environments to deploy production-grade code. This role balances technical execution with strategic consulting, shifting from early-stage architecture discovery to hands-on software delivery and integration.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Discovery & Rapid Prototyping: Partner with sales and solutions teams during early-stage discovery to analyze a client's existing technical stack, data pipelines, and infrastructure. Rapidly construct working prototypes, mock integrations, and core code patterns to demonstrate technical feasibility and value.
• Hands-on Client Deployment: Embed directly with client engineering teams to transition a proposed architecture into a live production environment. Write robust, clean, and maintainable code to build out core platforms, data pipelines, or automated frameworks.
• Integration & Systems Engineering: Tackle complex systems integration challenges, working with diverse environments, cloud providers, and emerging automated frameworks to bridge gaps between disparate client architectures.
• Technical Onboarding & Hand-off: Deliver production-ready codebases with exceptional documentation and architectural guardrails. Partner with internal long-term product delivery teams to ensure a seamless technical hand-off, mentoring core engineers on the specific patterns and environments established during the deployment phase.

Core Qualifications

• Senior/Staff-Level Engineering Background: Extensive hands-on experience in software engineering, systems architecture, or data engineering, with a proven track record of shipping production-grade systems.
• Polyglot & Systems Fluency: Mastery of modern backend environments (such as Python), environment configuration management, and complex API/system integration patterns.
• Cloud Architecture: Deep engineering competence with at least one major cloud ecosystem (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).
• Consultative Problem Solving: Strong communication skills with the ability to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with a client’s engineering leadership, understand ambiguous requirements, and quickly translate them into an execution plan.
• Execution Speed: Ability to land in an unfamiliar codebase or architecture and confidently begin committing clean code and resolving technical hurdles on day one.