Forward Deployed Engineer

Strategic Employment Partners (SEP); New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Strategic Employment Partners (SEP) in New York is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to design and implement scalable backend systems for enterprise AI solutions. This role involves collaboration with Fortune 500 clients to translate business requirements into technical architecture. The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in backend engineering, proficient in Python, and familiar with cloud services like AWS, GCP, or Azure. Join us to work on cutting-edge AI projects with substantial real-world impact.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend or platform engineering experience.
• Strong fundamentals in systems design.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy scalable backend systems for AI solutions.
• Translate client business needs into technical architecture.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver solutions.

Skills

Backend engineering

Python

Cloud architecture

Distributed systems

Open-source contributions

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

We’re a fast-growing, well-funded startup backed by one of the top-performing venture capital firms of the last decade. We partner with Fortune 500 enterprises to design, deploy, and scale agentic AI solutions that meaningfully accelerate AI adoption across multiple industries. Our work sits at the intersection of cutting-edge AI research and real-world enterprise impact, pushing forward the frontier of what’s possible with modern open-source and cloud-native technologies.

About the Role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will play a hybrid role blending deep technical engineering work with direct collaboration alongside clients and internal stakeholders. You’ll be responsible for architecting, building, and deploying custom AI-driven automation and agentic systems within complex enterprise environments.

You will work hands-on with customers to understand their technical constraints, design scalable back-end systems, and ensure successful implementation of high-impact AI workflows. Internally, you’ll partner closely with product, research, and platform engineering to push our technology forward and help define best practices as we scale.

This role is ideal for an engineer who thrives in high-ownership environments, is passionate about modern AI infrastructure, and wants to work side-by-side with enterprises to unlock powerful real-world AI use cases.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, and deploy scalable backend systems powering enterprise agentic AI solutions.
• Work directly with Fortune 500 clients to translate business needs into robust technical architecture.
• Collaborate with internal teams (engineering, product, research) to deliver high-quality end-to-end solutions.
• Implement cloud-native services and automation workflows across AWS, GCP, or Azure environments.
• Contribute to and extend open-source projects relevant to our platform and customer deployments.
• Ensure systems meet enterprise-grade standards of reliability, performance, scalability, and security.
• Act as a technical advisor, guiding stakeholders through best practices for modern AI adoption.
• Help shape engineering culture and processes as an early member of a rapidly expanding team.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of backend or platform engineering experience, with strong fundamentals in systems design.
• Proficiency in Python (preferred), or experience with modern languages such as Rust or Go.
• Strong understanding of cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and distributed systems.
• Experience building scalable, high-performance backend services.
• Demonstrated involvement in the open-source community, whether through contributions, tooling, or active participation.
• Comfort working in fast-paced environments with high ambiguity and high autonomy.
• Ability to work directly with customers—translating requirements, guiding technical decisions, and ensuring successful delivery.
• Deep curiosity about AI systems, agentic architectures, and modern open-source AI tooling.

Why Join Us?

• Work at the frontier of enterprise AI adoption with massive real-world impact.
• Join a well-funded startup backed by a top-tier VC firm.
• High ownership, ability to shape engineering architecture, processes, and culture.
• Collaborate with a talented team building AI systems used by some of the world’s largest companies.
• Opportunities to push boundaries on open-source AI engineering and real-world deployment challenges.