AI-Driven Forward-Deployed Engineering Lead

Define Ventures; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Luminai is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineering Lead to sit at the intersection of engineering, product, and customer delivery. You will embed with customers, deeply understand their workflows, and design and deploy AI-powered solutions that deliver immediate, real-world impact, while also setting the technical standard for the team around you.

This is a highly autonomous, hands-on role for a senior builder who thrives in ambiguous environments, works directly with customers, and shapes

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, ideally as an FDE or in backend/systems-focused work.
• Senior, steady hand on a team, comfortable operating with less oversight.
• Strong proficiency in Python; TypeScript/JavaScript experience is a plus.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Ability to translate ambiguous requirements into working, production-ready systems.
• Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset in fast-changing environments.
• Experience with AI systems (LLMs, vector databases, prompt engineering, or agent frameworks) is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Embed directly with customers to understand workflows, constraints, and success criteria.
• Design, build, and deploy AI-driven solutions tailored to real operational problems.
• Build and maintain production systems including APIs, integrations, monitoring, and feedback loops.
• Translate business requirements and customer needs into technical architectures and implementations.
• Operate in high-stakes environments where reliability, speed, and judgment matter.
• Identify patterns across deployments and feed insights back into core product and platform development.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to influence roadmap and long-term system design.
• Own deployments end-to-end from scoping to launch and iteration.
• Set technical direction and best practices for the FDE team, raising the bar on code quality and architecture.

Skills

Python

TypeScript/JavaScript

Backend engineering

Cloud infrastructure

AI systems

Production systems

Stakeholder communication

Job description

Luminai is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineering Lead to sit at the intersection of engineering, product, and customer delivery. You will embed with customers, deeply understand their workflows, and design and deploy AI-powered solutions that deliver immediate, real-world impact, while also setting the technical standard for the team around you.

This is a highly autonomous, hands-on role for a senior builder who thrives in ambiguous environments, works directly with customers, and shapes