AI Forward Deployed Engineer – GovTech AI Startup

TheCorporate; Maryland; On-site; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity 0.5–1.0%

Competitive salary $150K–$250K

Relocation to DC

Job summary

TheCorporate is a fast-growing GovTech AI startup hiring AI Forward Deployed Engineers to build and deploy production AI systems for government customers.

This role blends AI engineering, production software development, and direct customer engagement, requiring hands-on work with LLMs, RAG, and AI agents, and offering meaningful equity and rapid career growth in a small, mission-driven team.

Qualifications

• 1-4 years of production software engineering experience.
• Strong Python development skills.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG, AI agents, and/or multi-agent systems.
• Experience building and deploying production AI applications.
• Strong communication and customer-facing skills.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership.
• Startup mindset and comfort with ambiguity.
• Willingness to relocate to Washington, DC.
• Available to start ASAP.

Responsibilities

• Build and deploy production AI systems.
• Deploy AI solutions directly with government customers.
• Design and implement RAG and multi-agent AI architectures.
• Develop AI infrastructure and supporting systems.
• Build and improve model evaluation pipelines.
• Develop production AI applications using LLMs and AI agents.
• Own projects from initial design through deployment.
• Work directly with customers to understand technical requirements.
• Collaborate closely with founders and engineering teams.
• Troubleshoot and improve AI systems in production environments.

Skills

Python

LLMs & AI agents

Production AI apps

Communication

Ownership

Startup mindset

Relocation to DC

Start ASAP

Job description

About the Opportunity

A fast-growing GovTech AI startup is hiring AI Forward Deployed Engineers to build and deploy production AI systems for government customers.

This role combines AI engineering, production software development, and customer engagement. You'll work directly with customers and company founders to deploy cutting-edge AI solutions in real-world government environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and deploy production AI systems
• Deploy AI solutions directly with government customers
• Design and implement RAG and multi-agent AI architectures
• Develop AI infrastructure and supporting systems
• Build and improve model evaluation pipelines
• Develop production AI applications using LLMs and AI agents
• Own projects from initial design through deployment
• Work directly with customers to understand technical requirements
• Collaborate closely with founders and engineering teams
• Troubleshoot and improve AI systems in production environments

Required Qualifications

• 1--4 years of production software engineering experience
• Strong Python development skills
• Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG, AI agents, and/or multi-agent systems
• Experience building and deploying production AI applications
• Strong communication and customer-facing skills
• Ability to work independently and take ownership
• Startup mindset and comfort with ambiguity
• Willingness to relocate to Washington, DC
• Available to start ASAP

Citizenship/Sponsorship

U.S. citizenship is required for certain teams. Limited visa sponsorship may be available for exceptional candidates working on civilian-focused teams.

Strong Plus

• Former founder or founding engineer
• AI startup experience
• GovTech, Defense, or Enterprise AI experience
• Active or eligible security clearance
• ML infrastructure experience
• Data pipeline development
• Reinforcement Learning
• Enterprise customer experience
• Experience deploying AI systems in regulated or security-sensitive environments

Why Join?

• $150K--$250K base salary + 0.5%--1.0% equity
• Well-funded, rapidly growing AI startup
• Meaningful equity opportunity
• Mission-driven work with real-world government impact
• Direct interaction with company founders
• Small, elite engineering team
• High ownership and autonomy
• Rapid career growth
• Opportunity to build production AI systems solving complex government problems

Ideal Candidate

• Visa Sponsorship: Limited sponsorship available for exceptional candidates
• Start Date: ASAP

We're looking for a hands-on AI engineer and builder who enjoys turning emerging AI technology into reliable production systems. The ideal candidate is comfortable working directly with customers, solving ambiguous technical problems, and taking projects from architecture through deployment.