Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

Airweave (YC X25); Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary (€80K–€100K)

Meaningful equity (0.25%–0.75%)

Direct line to product and engineering teams

Job summary

A leading technology company in Amsterdam is seeking a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to integrate their solutions with enterprise infrastructures, including on-prem and hybrid cloud environments. This role involves direct client interaction, debugging production issues, and developing custom integrations. Strong skills in Python and Kubernetes, along with a background in enterprise software deployment, are essential. Competitive salary is offered along with equity opportunities and working closely with a talented technical team.

Qualifications

• Experience in deploying software in enterprise environments.
• Strong generalist skills to work across different technologies.
• Ability to work under pressure and debug distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and integrate Airweave into on-prem and hybrid environments.
• Build custom connectors for various data sources.
• Debug production issues directly on customer infrastructure.

Skills

Customer Interaction

Python

Infrastructure Understanding

Debugging Skills

Network Constraints Awareness

Problem-solving

Tools

Kubernetes

PostgreSQL

Job description

We're looking for a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to work directly with our most important customers, including one of the world's leading AI labs, and make Airweave work in their environments.

This is not a support role. Forward deployed means you're the bridge between what we've built and what customers actually need. You'll be embedded with enterprise teams, understanding their infrastructure, data sources, and constraints. You'll solve problems that turn into product features.

You'll spend time on-site with enterprises, ship code that solves their specific problems, and make sure Airweave delivers in environments we've never seen. The work spans Kubernetes, Python, PostgreSQL, and LLM infrastructure, but the real skill is figuring out how it all fits together somewhere new.

This is crucial early‑stage work. Your work will directly determine how we land and expand in enterprise.

What you'll work on

• Deploy and integrate Airweave into enterprise environments: on‑prem, hybrid cloud, air‑gapped networks
• Build custom connectors and integrations for customer‑specific data sources and workflows
• Debug production issues in real time, often on customer infrastructure
• Work directly with technical teams at customers, including to understand their requirements and constraints
• Translate customer feedback into product improvements; you'll have a direct line to engineering
• Own the technical relationship with key accounts from proof‑of‑concept through production
• Build the playbooks and tooling that define how Airweave lands in enterprise
• Always free to contribute directly to the Airweave product based on what you learn in the field
• Travel to customer sites across Europe as needed

You might be a fit if

• You're comfortable working directly with customers and can communicate technical concepts clearly at the whiteboard
• You've deployed software in enterprise environments and understand the realities (security reviews, network constraints, compliance)
• You're a strong generalist: comfortable with Python, infrastructure, databases, and whatever else the problem requires
• You thrive in ambiguity and can figure things out without a playbook
• You can debug distributed systems under moderate pressure: logs, traces, intuition and teamwork
• You're willing to travel and work on‑site with customers when needed

Bonus Points

• Experience with data/LLM infrastructure deployments
• Background in solutions engineering, technical leadership, or customer‑facing technical roles
• Familiarity with enterprise security requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, on‑prem deployments)
• French, German or Dutch language skills

What we offer

• Customers including one of the world's leading AI labs
• Competitive salary (€80K–€100K) with meaningful equity (0.25%–0.75%)
• Work in‑person in the heart of Amsterdam (Herengracht) with a highly-skilled, technical team
• Direct line to product and engineering: your insights shape what we build