Forward Deployed AI Engineer

Jobtailor; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking an experienced AI/software engineer to design and build production-ready AI applications. You will embed AI across customer SDLC and scale solutions across enterprise environments.

Responsibilities include delivering production-grade solutions, collaborating with customer teams, and shaping our engineering culture as we grow. A startup mindset and a passion for rapid prototyping with production outcomes are valued.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience building production-ready software across multiple programming languages.
• Experience with Large Language Models and deploying AI in production.
• Proficiency with coding assistants and AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Design and build customer-facing AI applications.
• Deliver production-grade solutions across the full project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with customer engineering teams to understand constraints and translate into technical solutions.

Skills

Production-Ready Software Development

Large Language Models

AI Tools Proficiency

Coding Assistants

Multiple Programming Languages

Customer-Facing Skills

Tools

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Claude Code

Codex

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Job description

• Design and build what the customer needs: Depending on the engagement, you'll design and develop custom AI applications, embed AI across a customer's SDLC, or build enterprise systems using AI tools that change how software is made. In every case, you're shipping production-ready work that integrates with the customer's environment and scales with their use cases.
• Deliver solutions: Work across the full project lifecycle - understanding the requirements and system design and translating them into production grade solutions using AI tools for coding, testing, deployment, and support.
• Collaborate directly with customers: Partner with customer engineering teams to understand technical constraints, gather requirements, and problem-solve together. You'll join customer calls to discuss tradeoffs, progress, and technical feasibility.
• Work with world-class engineering teams: Collaborate with other HTEC engineers on projects, contributing your expertise and learning from others as you tackle complex AI challenges together.
• Shape our engineering culture: Help define how we build, how we learn, and how we work together as we scale our engineering team.
• Important context: We balance quality and speed: We love rapid prototyping but our code goes into production in customer environments. You need to enjoy balancing elegance with expediency.

Requirements

• Strong engineering fundamentals: You write exceptional code and deeply care about the craft. You have 5+ years of experience building elegant, production-ready software across multiple programming languages.
• Experience with Large Language Models: Track record building scalable applications with LLMs, using frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar tools. You understand the practical challenges of deploying AI in production.
• Proficiency with coding assistants: You are a builder and you know where and how to leverage AI tools like Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor and more.
• Problem-solving mindset: You love solving hard, new problems. You're comfortable in self-teaching, asking "why," and experimenting to tackle challenges you haven't seen before.
• Customer-facing skills: You can navigate customer conversations skillfully, understand their needs deeply, and translate those into technical solutions that actually work.
• Startup mentality: You jump in without instruction, embrace a "no job too big, no job too small" mindset, and want to contribute to building something exceptional.
• Collaborative approach: You're comfortable helping others and asking for help. You value integrity and want to build a culture of continuous learning.

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in designing and building production-ready AI applications, leveraging Large Language Models and coding assistants to deliver scalable solutions. Strong customer-facing skills and a collaborative mindset are essential for navigating technical requirements and fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Large Language Models Experience
• Production-Ready Software Development
• AI Tools Proficiency
• Customer-Facing Skills
• Problem-Solving Mindset

ATS Optimization Keywords

Hard Skills

• Production-Ready Software Development
• Large Language Models
• Coding Assistants
• Multiple Programming Languages
• AI Application Development

Soft Skills

• Problem-Solving Mindset
• Collaborative Approach
• Customer Engagement

Industry Keywords

• AI Applications
• Software Development Lifecycle
• Rapid Prototyping
• Engineering Culture
• Startup Mentality

Tools & Technologies

• LangChain
• LlamaIndex
• Claude Code
• Codex
• GitHub Copilot
• Cursor