Forward-Deployed Engineer

Jobtailor

Greater London

On-site

GBP 70,000 - 110,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Jobtailor in London is seeking a senior software engineer to embed with cross-functional teams and translate complex freight and supply-chain workflows into scalable platform features. You will build prototypes, automations and production-ready code, integrating with internal services, carrier platforms and third-party APIs, using AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery.

Working with Product, Design, Engineering and Data teams, you will own delivery, communicate decisions clearly,

Qualifications

Strong professional software engineering experience across the full lifecycle.
Experience in at least one modern programming language (TypeScript/JavaScript/Python/Java/Kotlin/C#).
Experience building and consuming APIs, webhooks and integrations.
Experience with databases and event-driven workflows.
Fluent use of AI-assisted development tools as core to building.

Responsibilities

Embed with operations teams to understand freight/supply-chain workflows.
Translate business problems into technical solutions; decide when to extend or build.
Turn manual decisions into automated platform logic and AI-enabled processes.
Build and deploy prototypes, automations, and production-ready features with internal and third-party integrations.
Collaborate with Product, Design, Engineering, Data and Infrastructure teams; maintain delivery ownership.

Skills

TypeScript

JavaScript

Python

Java

Kotlin

API Development

Database Management

Event-Driven Workflows

Software Quality Assurance

Testing and Observability

Tools

N8n

Cloud Infrastructure

Terraform

CI/CD

ERP Systems

Job description

Embed with operations teams and internal stakeholders, typically for a few months at a time, to understand complex freight and supply-chain workflows.
Translate loosely defined business problems into clear technical solutions, deciding when to extend existing functionality and when to build new.
Turn manual, spreadsheet and inbox-based decisions into platform logic that can be automated and, over time, increasingly handled by AI.
Build and deploy prototypes, automations and production-ready features, integrating with internal Zencargo services, carrier platforms and third-party APIs.
Use AI and modern development tools both to accelerate delivery and as a core part of the solutions you build.
Work with structured and unstructured data, including emails, documents, purchase orders, shipment data and operational events.
Test and measure solutions against real workflows and user feedback, looking for reduced manual effort, better accuracy, faster processing and a smoother-running business.
Identify patterns across problems and help convert them into reusable platform functionality.
Collaborate closely with Product, Design and core Engineering, and with our Data and Infrastructure teams who will support your builds, while retaining ownership of delivery.
Communicate technical decisions, limitations and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, up to executive level.
Maintain appropriate standards for security, reliability, data protection and maintainability, and support solutions through implementation and early adoptions

Requirements

Strong professional software engineering experience across the full lifecycle, comfortable taking a problem from discovery through to independently building, deploying and running it in production.
Strong skills in at least one modern programming language, such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, Kotlin or C#. Some familiarity with Kotlin or Python, our primary languages, is valued but not essential.
Experience building and consuming APIs, webhooks and system integrations.
Experience working with databases, data models and event-driven workflows.
Fluent use of AI-assisted development tools as a core part of how you build. This is essential to the role.
Strong product judgement: understands unfamiliar business processes quickly, embeds with a team to distil what matters, and separates the immediate user request from the underlying problem.
Comfortable working with ambiguity and making sensible decisions without waiting for perfect requirements, with a bias toward action, experimentation and iterative delivery.
Confidence working directly with operational users and senior stakeholders, collaborating across Product, Design, Engineering and our Data and Infrastructure teams, and explaining technical concepts in clear, practical language.
Strong ownership, including responsibility for whether the solution achieves the intended outcome rather than only whether the code was delivered.
Good understanding of software quality, observability, testing, security and maintainable architecture.
Experience in freight, logistics or supply chain, or in another B2B SaaS or operational technology environment is a plus.
Experience building workflow automation or orchestration, for example with tools such as n8n is a plus.
Experience with large language model applications and unstructured-data problems such as document extraction or email classification is a plus.
Experience integrating with ERP, transport-management, warehouse-management or internal operational systems is a plus.
Experience in a solutions engineering, implementation, internal-tools or forward-deployed role, including taking bespoke solutions and turning them into product is a plus.
Familiarity with cloud infrastructure, Terraform, CI/CD and production support, ideally in an early-stage or high-growth environment is a plus.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates strong software engineering skills across the full lifecycle, with a focus on building and deploying solutions that integrate with APIs and leverage AI-assisted development tools. Capable of collaborating with cross-functional teams and communicating technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

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