Forward Deployed Engineer

EPAM Systems; Netherlands; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

EPAM Systems seeks a Forward Deployed Engineer based in Amsterdam to work hybrid with Dutch clients, turning business needs into technical solutions. You will lead multi-cultural teams, design data-driven architectures and drive production-grade delivery from client sites.

Responsibilities include building data-intensive systems, APIs and pipelines, guiding senior stakeholders, and applying CI/CD, observability and security practices across the project lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Experience building data-intensive systems, APIs, pipelines or distributed apps.
• Practical experience with at least one major cloud platform (GCP, Azure or AWS).
• Understanding of modern engineering practices: automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, IAM, production ops.
• Experience directing coding agents through data engineering specs.
• Knowledge of full data lifecycle: ingestion, modeling, transformation, governance, consumption.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with clients and users to understand business and system challenges, identify problems, and define technical approaches.
• Design architectures, write and review production code, and integrate with existing systems.
• Build data-intensive systems, APIs, services, pipelines or distributed applications.
• Lead technical discussions, explain trade-offs to senior stakeholders and make credible engineering decisions.
• Direct coding agents through spec-driven development in data engineering contexts.
• Apply modern engineering practices including automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, IAM, and production ops.
• Reason about end-to-end systems, not just individual components.
• Create leverage by providing technical direction, splitting work between onsite and remote teams, and removing ambiguity and blockers.
• Enable distributed, multi-cultural engineering teams to deliver effectively.
• Work regularly from client locations in the Netherlands and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences.

Skills

Data engineering

Data architectures

Cloud platforms

CI/CD

Kubernetes

APIs & services

AI tools & GenAI

Client engagement

Data lifecycle

Security & IAM

Tools

Terraform

Databricks

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Clients in the Netherlands face complex, often ambiguous technical challenges that demand hands-on engineering and direct engagement. Distributed teams need clear direction and leverage to deliver effectively, especially when requirements are incomplete or evolving. As a Forward Deployed Engineer based in Amsterdam and working in a hybrid mode, you will work close to clients and their users, turning business needs into technical solutions and leading them through implementation and production. You will regularly operate from client locations, collaborating across multi-cultural teams and bridging the gap between business and technology. The work matters because it enables organizations to solve real problems and achieve measurable outcomes in demanding environments.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with clients and users to understand business and system challenges, identify problems, and define technical approaches
• Design architectures, write and review production code, and integrate with existing systems
• Build data-intensive systems, APIs, services, pipelines or distributed applications
• Lead technical discussions, explain trade-offs to senior stakeholders and make credible engineering decisions
• Direct coding agents through spec-driven development in data engineering contexts
• Apply modern engineering practices including automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, identity and access management, and production operations
• Reason about end-to-end systems, not just individual components
• Create leverage by providing technical direction, splitting work between onsite and remote teams, and removing ambiguity and blockers
• Enable distributed, multi-cultural engineering teams to deliver effectively
• Work regularly from client locations in the Netherlands and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences

Requirements

• Data software engineering experience and expertise, with knowledge of the current technology landscape
• Experience designing and building data-intensive systems, APIs, services, pipelines or distributed applications
• Practical experience with at least one major cloud platform, preferably GCP, Azure or AWS
• Understanding of modern engineering practices including automated testing, CI/CD, observability, security, identity and access management, and production operations
• Experience directing coding agents through spec-driven development in data engineering
• Working knowledge of the full data lifecycle: ingestion, modeling, transformation, quality, governance and consumption
• Experience using modern AI coding tools or agents as part of professional software development, with the judgment to validate their output and use them safely
• Demonstrated experience working directly with clients and business stakeholders
• Ability to take an incompletely defined problem and independently drive it toward a working solution
• Nice to have Dutch language proficiency, particularly for engagements with Dutch public-sector organizations or locally oriented enterprises
• Experience designing or deploying LLM/GenAI applications, including retrieval-augmented generation, agents, tool use, structured outputs and evaluation
• Familiarity with modern data platforms such as Databricks or comparable technologies
• Experience with containerization, Kubernetes and infrastructure-as-code
• Experience in regulated environments such as financial services, government, healthcare or critical infrastructure
• Experience leading workshops, discovery sessions or technical client engagements
• Experience mentoring engineers or acting as technical lead for multidisciplinary or distributed teams
• Experience creating reusable engineering assets, accelerators, reference architectures or internal developer platforms