Lead Forward Deployment Engineer

ThoughtSpot; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,500,000; Full time

Job summary

ThoughtSpot in Bengaluru, India, seeks an architect-level Lead Engineer to own our internal tools initiative. You will lead a lean, AI-augmented team to design, build, and operate internal software that replaces major enterprise SaaS platforms, while providing hands-on delivery and mentoring new graduates.

You will shape backend architecture, scale applications from scratch, and own CI/CD pipelines with security considerations, collaborating across Sales, PM, and other teams to iterate quickly

Qualifications

• 7+ years building production-grade, full-stack applications.
• Strong backend architecture and system design for distributed systems.
• Experience refactoring and modularizing sub-optimal code including AI-generated code.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes, Docker, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP).
• Experience hosting and scaling internal apps from scratch and building CI/CD pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable backend services, data models, and integration architectures for internal tools replacing complex SaaS platforms.
• Understand business use cases with stakeholders and translate into technical designs with build-vs-buy trade-offs.
• Own lifecycle of internal applications: provisioning, deploying, scaling, monitoring, and operating them in production.
• Build and maintain end-to-end CI/CD pipelines with automated testing and code scanning.
• Utilize AI development tools to accelerate delivery and review AI-generated code.

Skills

Full-stack development

Distributed systems

Mentoring

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

AWS

GCP

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Jenkins

Job description

We are looking for an architect-level Lead Engineer to own our custom internal tools initiative. You will lead a lean, AI-augmented team to design, build, and operate internal software that replaces major enterprise SaaS platforms. This role combines strong backend architecture and system design with hands-on delivery: you will define the technical blueprints, host and scale applications from scratch, and mentor new college graduates into productive engineers.

What You'll Do:

• Backend Architecture & System Design: Design scalable backend services, data models, and integration architectures for internal tools replacing complex SaaS platforms. Set and enforce architectural standards across the team.
• Understanding Use Cases: Work directly with stakeholders to understand business use cases deeply, translate ambiguous requirements into clear technical designs, and make pragmatic build-vs-buy and scope trade-offs.
• Hosting & Scaling from Scratch: Own the full lifecycle of internal applications - provisioning infrastructure, deploying, scaling, monitoring, and operating them in production.
• CI/CD Ownership: Build and maintain end-to-end CI/CD pipelines with automated testing, code scanning, and branch-protection guardrails - the definitive quality gate for all code, including AI-generated code.
• AI-Assisted Development: Use AI development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) to accelerate delivery, and establish team practices for reviewing, refactoring, and hardening AI-generated code.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Sales, Pre-Sales, Project Management, and other internal teams to prioritize work, gather feedback, and iterate quickly.
• Technical Mentorship: Guide new college graduates and junior engineers on architectural first principles, code quality, security, and effective AI-assisted development.

What You Bring:

• 7+ years building production-grade, full-stack applications (e.g., Python, Node.js, Go, React, relational and vector databases).
• Strong backend architecture and system design skills - proven ability to design distributed systems and critically evaluate, refactor, and modularize sub-optimal code, including LLM-generated code.
• Core knowledge of Kubernetes, Docker, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP), and distributed systems; experience running multi-service containerized environments in production.
• Demonstrated experience hosting and scaling internal applications from scratch, including building CI/CD pipelines end to end (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins).
• Adept with AI development tools and agentic coding workflows; hands-on experience using them to ship real products.
• Working knowledge of secure SDLC practices: automated static/dynamic code scanning, secret detection, and OWASP Top 10 awareness built into the pipeline.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and communication skills; able to work directly with non-engineering stakeholders and turn use cases into shipped software.
• Track record of mentoring junior engineers.