Forward Deployed Engineer

Austinworks; New York (NY); On-site; USD 300,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

Austinworks is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to own high-impact problems from discovery to production deployment at enterprise customers in the US. You will architect, build, deploy, and support production software, including AI agents, copilots, RAG systems, and integrations across backend, APIs, data, and cloud infrastructure.

You’ll operate with strong ownership, cross-functional collaboration, and comfort navigating unfamiliar codebases while delivering tangible customer value and

Qualifications

• Strong production ownership: designed, shipped, and supported meaningful production software.
• Full-stack/generalist ability across backend, APIs, databases, frontend, infrastructure, and deployment.
• Deep cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or Azure) with CI/CD, containers, reliability, and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Own high-impact technical problems from discovery through production deployment.
• Work directly with enterprise customers and senior stakeholders.
• Architect, build, deploy, and support production software.
• Build AI agents, copilots, RAG systems, workflow automation, and enterprise integrations.
• Work across backend, frontend, data, APIs, and cloud infrastructure.

Skills

Production ownership

Full-stack/generalist

Cloud depth

Customer presence

High agency

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

Codex

Job description

Compensation: $300k to $400k on target earnings

Experience: ~3–10+ years, with flexibility for exceptional engineers

About

Our client is a fast-growing, bootstrapped AI company helping Fortune 500 businesses become AI-native.

• Embeds engineers directly inside major enterprises
• Builds production AI systems, not decks or POCs
• Works closely with leading frontier AI labs and technology companies
• Scaling rapidly through customer revenue rather than traditional VC funding
• Competes for enterprise work with some of the largest consulting and technology firms in the world

The Role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll own high-impact technical problems from initial discovery through production deployment.

You’ll:

• Work directly with enterprise customers and senior stakeholders
• Architect, build, deploy, and support production software
• Build AI agents, copilots, RAG systems, workflow automation, and enterprise integrations
• Work across backend, frontend, data, APIs, and cloud infrastructure
• Enter unfamiliar codebases and environments with limited handholding
• Use modern tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex to increase engineering velocity

This is a true engineering role, not traditional Solutions Engineering or consulting.

What They're Looking For

• Strong production ownership: You've personally designed, shipped, and supported meaningful production software
• Full-stack/generalist ability: Comfortable across backend, APIs, databases, frontend, infrastructure, and deployment
• Cloud depth: Strong experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure, including CI/CD, containers, reliability, and distributed systems
• Customer presence: Able to communicate clearly with engineers, operators, and Fortune 500 executives
• High agency: Comfortable owning ambiguous problems and making technical decisions independently

Strong Bonus Signals

• Production experience with LLMs, agents, RAG, MCP, evals, orchestration, or AI reliability
• Founder, founding engineer, or early-stage startup experience
• Open-source contributions or meaningful side projects
• Strong experience using AI coding tools in your day-to-day workflow

Why Join

• Work on frontier AI problems inside some of the world's largest companies
• Very high engineering ownership and direct customer impact
• Exposure to executive-level business problems unusually early
• High-autonomy, high-performance environment
• Uncapped cash compensation tied to output