Forward Deployed AI Engineer

Talkdesk; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Paid sick leave

Equity incentives

Job summary

Talkdesk is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to translate Talkdesk’s AI platform into production-grade, enterprise solutions. You will lead technical execution, drive security and scale, and mentor a team across customer engagements.

You will design architecture for multi-agent AI systems, integrate APIs, and deliver high-impact results in customer-facing projects with executive stakeholders. This role combines software engineering with hands-on delivery in a fast-growing CX automation

Qualifications

• Progressive software/solution engineering experience with AI/ML deployments.
• Experience leading complex enterprise deployments and customer engagements.
• Strong architecture design for agentic AI and multi-system integration.
• Proven ability to drive technical discussions with executives and stakeholders.
• Mentor junior engineers and guide technical delivery for customers.

Responsibilities

• Act as the technical lead for complex AI agent deployments, ensuring security and scale.
• Write production-grade code and leverage Talkdesk APIs/SDKs for delivery.
• Serve as a trusted technical expert addressing deep inquiries and mitigating risk.
• Synthesize deployment learnings into reusable patterns and tooling for product teams.
• Mentor junior engineers on best practices for AI architecture and client delivery.

Skills

AI/ML architecture

Multi-agent systems

APIs & integration

Technical leadership

Customer-facing delivery

Job description

The Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is a high impact technical leader responsible for translating the immense power of Talkdesk’s Agentic AI platform into transformative, production-grade solutions for our strategic enterprise customers. You are a unique blend of a highly experienced software engineer, a technical project lead, and a hands-on builder. You own the technical execution for deployments, mitigate technical risks, and drive successful customer outcomes across assigned projects. This role is for the experienced builder who excels in high stakes, customer facing environments and is passionate about defining the future of Customer Experience Automation.

Responsibilities

• Technical Project Leadership & Architecture: Act as the technical lead for complex deployments. Design and implement the architectural blueprint for AI agent solutions, manage cross-system dependencies, and ensure designs meet stringent enterprise standards for security and scale.
• Hands-On Engineering & Delivery: Write production-grade code and leverage Talkdesk and 3rd-party APIs/SDKs to design, build, test, and deploy AI agents. Drive the execution from prototype through to production deployment, ensuring technical quality.
• Technical Consultation & Alignment: Serve as a trusted technical expert for our AI solutions. Confidently address deep technical inquiries, mitigate technical risk, and build trust with customer Engineering Directors, and technical architects.
• Influence Product & Engineering Roadmap: Synthesize and codify deployment learnings into reusable solution patterns and tooling. Provide actionable feedback to core Product and Engineering teams to help inform future product direction.
• Technical Guidance: Mentor junior FDEs and technical specialists on best practices for complex AI architecture, production quality, and client-facing technical delivery.

Who You Are

We are looking for an autonomous, results-driven technical leader who thrives at the intersection of breakthrough technology and measurable customer value.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 5-7 years of progressive experience in software or solution engineering, with at least 1+ years focused on architecting and deploying AI/ML/Agentic solutions.
• Project implementation consulting experience in large scale IT integration projects, ERP projects or AI implementations including experience in client-side project lead experience.
• Strong Experience in Agentic AI System Architecture: Proven experience in the design and end-to-end implementation of complex multi-agent systems, encompassing sophisticated planning, memory, and tool-use frameworks.
• Deep expertise in systems integration (APIs, webhooks, message queues) and data architecture to ensure secure, compliant, and performant data flow for the agent across complex customer environments.
• Strong proficiency in prompt engineering, model optimization, and designing systems where agents collaborate to achieve complex outcomes.
• Proven ability to build credibility and consensus with customer executives, lead technical discussions, and drive alignment across internal and external teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, including hands-on experience with vector databases.
• Experience with health Care Systems such as Epic or Aetna or Retail Services system is a plus.
• Prior experience in the Contact Center (CCaaS), Unified Communications (UCaaS), or Customer Experience (CX) industry.

Pay Range (Base Pay): $170k - $200k

Other Types of Pay:Based on level and role the employee may be eligible for long term incentives in the form of equity and short term incentives of either bonus or commission.

Health Insurance:Medical, Dental, Vision, Life and Disability Insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Paid Time Off: Talkdesk offers an uncapped paid time off program for exempt employees and an accrual-based program for non-exempt employees; both are subject to manager approval and consistent with business needs.

Paid Holidays: Talkdesk offers 14 paid holidays each year.

Paid Sick Leave: Exempt employees have uncapped paid time off and non-exempt sick leave follows accrual standards; both are subject to manager approval and consistent with business needs.

Application Window: The application window is expected to close at least 120 days from the posting date. The application was posted on 10/22/2026.

Benefits and perks listed above may vary based on the nature of your employment with Talkdesk.

All questions or concerns about this posting should be directed to the Talent team at [e-mail].

Talkdesk is pioneering a new era of Customer Experience Automation (CXA), redefining how the world’s most admired brands interact with their customers through AI. Our global team of courageous innovators is customer-obsessed, building AI-first solutions that put empathy, trust, and transparency at the center of every interaction. We foster an inclusive culture where diverse perspectives drive our success and every voice belongs. Combining the stability of a global leader with the agility of a disruptor, Talkdeskers are empowered with the autonomy to drive meaningful impact, while giving back to the communities and environment around us.

Talkdesk has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and in the G2 Overall Grid® Reports for AI Agents and Contact Center. With seven consecutive years on the Forbes Cloud 100 and multiple AI Breakthrough awards, there has never been a more exciting time to join us as we shape the future of customer experience automation!

Work Environment and Physical Requirements:

Primarily office-environment work, extended periods of sitting or standing, computer-based work. Limited lifting, and equipment usage limited to computer-related equipment (keyboards, mouse, etc.)

The Talkdesk story hinges on empathy and acceptance. It is the shared goal among all Talkdeskers to empower a new kind of customer hero through our innovative software solution, and we firmly believe that the best path to success for our mission is inclusivity, diversity, and genuine acceptance.

We will hire, promote, work along, cheer for, bond with, and warmly welcome into the Talkdesk family all persons without regard to ethnic and racial identity, indigenous heritage, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status.

As set forth in Talkdesk’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.

As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

At Talkdesk, we are an AI-first organization. We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including the interview intelligence platform BrightHire, to support a fair and consistent evaluation of candidates.

These tools assist our team in reviewing applications, analyzing interview content, and assessing role-related skills. Specifically, BrightHire helps us record and transcribe interviews so our interviewers can focus entirely on the conversation and ensure an objective review of every candidate. All decisions during the hiring process are made by the responsible hiring team.

Where AI tools involve the recording or summarizing of interview content, your consent will be requested before the recording would start. You may reject or withdraw your consent at any time without impact on your candidacy.