Forward Deployment Engineer

JR United Kingdom; Reading; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK-based AI start-up seeks a Founding Forward Deployment Engineer to lead AI solution deployments and enhance customer interactions. With a strong team of founders from renowned institutions and a substantial equity stake, you’ll help shape the future of AI deployment from day one. This hybrid role combines technical expertise and customer-facing responsibilities, offering a unique opportunity to define product direction and influence significant outcomes.

Benefits

Generous equity stake

Direct impact on product and technical roadmap

Opportunity to work with world-class team

Define deployment function from day one

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in technical roles.
• Strong fundamentals in software engineering.
• Outstanding communication skills with customers.

Responsibilities

• Deploy AI-driven solutions into real-world environments.
• Collaborate with engineering and ML teams.
• Shape implementations and ensure smooth rollouts.

Skills

Software Engineering

Solution Architecture

Customer Communication

Problem Solving

Education

Top-tier academic background (Oxbridge, Imperial)

Tools

Python

Node.js

TypeScript

React

AWS

Job description

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An exceptional opportunity to join a well-funded, stealth-mode AI start-up in London as a Founding Forward Deployment Engineer. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and customer success - perfect for someone who thrives in fast-paced environments and wants to have direct impact with users.

Founded by alumni from Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial, with multiple successful AI start-ups behind them, the team is building intelligent systems that are already drawing serious investor attention!

? About the Company:

This is a company led by a group of deeply technical founders with a proven track record in scaling applied AI products. With strong financial backing and a highly ambitious roadmap, they are combining cutting-edge machine learning with practical, scalable deployment across high-value use cases.

As a Founding Forward Deployment Engineer, you'll be right in the middle of that effort - helping customers realise value from day one, while influencing both product and technical direction.

? The Role:

You’ll be responsible for deploying AI-driven solutions into real-world environments, working directly with customers to understand their needs, shape implementations, and ensure fast, smooth rollouts. You’ll also collaborate closely with the core engineering and ML teams to feed back insights and drive product improvements.

This is a hybrid role blending software engineering, solution architecture, product thinking, and customer-facing communication.

?️ What You’ll Work With:

• Backend and integration work with Python, Node.js, and TypeScript
• Front-end work using React
• Cloud infrastructure via AWS
• APIs, data pipelines, and custom tooling for real-world deployments
• Opportunity to work with ML/AI systems at the integration level (no prior ML required, but a plus)

? What They’re Looking For:

• A top-tier academic background - Oxbridge, Imperial, or equivalent
• 3+ years of experience in technical roles, ideally in start-ups or high-growth environments
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and an ability to build robust, flexible systems
• Outstanding communication skills - you’ll work directly with customers and stakeholders
• A product mindset and eagerness to shape both UX and technical outcomes
• A proactive, problem-solving attitude - you love ambiguity and ownership
• Must be based in London and available to work on-site 5 days/week with the founding team

? What’s on Offer

• Generous equity stake - true founding engineer level
• Direct impact on customer success, product direction, and technical roadmap
• Work with a world-class team of engineers, ML experts, and operators
• A chance to define the deployment function at an AI company from day one

If you’re a highly capable engineer who loves solving problems at the interface between product and real-world deployment, and want to help build something that matters - this could be the role for you!