Forward Deployed Engineer

Block MB; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Block MB is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer in London to work hybrid, blending client-facing problem solving with hands-on software development. You will engage with clients to understand their operational challenges, then design and ship technology to address them using a core stack of Python, Rust, and TypeScript on Linux.

The role spans various tasks—from data processing to building services and sometimes deploying on client sites—while ensuring lessons learned feed back into product

Qualifications

• Solid engineering skills in Python, Rust and/or TypeScript on Linux.
• Hands-on experience working with clients or end users.
• Comfort taking a loosely defined problem and delivering a working solution.

Responsibilities

• Work with clients to understand operational challenges and design software solutions.
• Design and ship technology to solve client problems.
• Move data, build services, and set up equipment on client sites.
• Serve as the link between clients and the broader engineering and product teams to shape the platform.

Skills

Python on Linux

Rust

TypeScript

Job description

Forward Deployed Engineer | Fast-growing AI scale-up | London (hybrid)

We're partnering with a well-funded AI company whose technology helps organisations running critical sites and high-stakes environments understand what's happening across their operations as it happens. They already work with some major UK names and are growing fast, but the team is still small, so whoever joins now will help shape what gets built and how the team operates.

What you'll do:

This is a customer-facing engineering role. You'll spend up to half your week with clients, getting under the skin of their operational challenges and then designing and shipping the technology to solve them. Many of these problems haven't been solved before, so expect to figure out the approach as well as build it.

No two weeks look the same. You might be moving and processing data one day, building services and interfaces the next, and setting up equipment on a client site after that. The core stack is Python, Rust and TypeScript running on Linux, though the team is pragmatic about using whatever fits the problem.

What you learn in the field matters beyond each project too. You'll be the link between clients and the wider engineering and product teams, making sure lessons from every deployment shape where the platform goes next.

What you'll bring:

• Solid engineering skills in Python, Rust and/or TypeScript on Linux, plus a habit of getting software into production and seeing it used
• Hands-on experience working with clients or end users
• Comfort taking a loosely defined problem and seeing it through to a working solution
• Good judgement about what to tackle first, and a practical, inventive approach when things don't go to plan

Nice to have/Bonus:

• Experience in Machine learning or data science, React front ends, backend services, or experience deploying to cloud, on-premise, embedded, containerised or GPU environments
• Experience leading projects or people

You'll be able to:

• Bring clarity to complicated client problems and turn them into software that works
• Explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences with ease
• Build trusted relationships with customers and internal teams alike

Great engineers come from all sorts of paths, so if your route into tech hasn't been conventional, we'd still love to hear from you.