Forward Deployed Engineer

UMATR; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

UMATR is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to work directly with customers, combining software engineering, product thinking and customer engagement to solve real problems.

This role requires ownership from discovery through to production, translating workflows into actionable software, AI opportunities, and automated solutions with autonomy on what and how to build.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of full-stack product engineering experience, ideally with customer-facing or forward-deployed work.
• Excellent communication and ability to build trust with non-technical users.
• Strong product instincts and ability to turn ambiguous problems into practical solutions.
• Experience with modern web development, cloud infrastructure and APIs.
• Experience applying AI/LLMs, RAG, agents or automation to real-world business problems.
• Willingness to travel regularly to customer sites.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with customers to understand their workflows, challenges and technical requirements.
• Identify high-value opportunities for automation, AI and custom software.
• Own the full lifecycle from discovery and scoping through to development, deployment and iteration.
• Build and ship production software that is used directly by customers.
• Translate ambiguous customer problems into clear technical and product decisions.
• Run working sessions, gather feedback and continuously improve solutions based on real-world usage.
• Debug and iterate on software in production.
• Build strong relationships with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Feed customer insights back into wider product and engineering strategy.
• Operate with significant autonomy, making decisions around what to build, how to build it and where to focus.

Skills

Full-stack product engineering

Customer-facing

Production software

AI/LLMs/RAG/automation

Cloud infrastructure

APIs

Strong communication

Job description

We’re partnering with a high-growth technology company that is building software and AI solutions for businesses across complex, technical industries.

They’re looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer with 5+ years of experience to work directly with customers, identify high-impact technical problems and build solutions that drive measurable outcomes.

This is a true FDE role - combining software engineering, product thinking and customer engagement. You’ll take ownership from initial discovery through to production, working closely with users to understand their workflows, identify opportunities for automation and AI, and build practical solutions that solve real problems.

What You’ll Do

• Work directly with customers to understand their workflows, challenges and technical requirements
• Identify high-value opportunities for automation, AI and custom software
• Own the full lifecycle from discovery and scoping through to development, deployment and iteration
• Build and ship production software that is used directly by customers
• Translate ambiguous customer problems into clear technical and product decisions
• Run working sessions, gather feedback and continuously improve solutions based on real-world usage
• Debug and iterate on software in production
• Build strong relationships with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Feed customer insights back into wider product and engineering strategy
• Operate with significant autonomy, making decisions around what to build, how to build it and where to focus

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of full-stack product engineering experience, ideally with customer-facing or forward-deployed experience
• Strong experience building and shipping production software
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build trust with non-technical users
• Strong product instincts and the ability to turn ambiguous problems into practical solutions
• Comfortable working directly with customers and operating in unfamiliar environments
• Able to move quickly from discovery to working software without extensive hand-holding
• Experience with modern web development, cloud infrastructure and APIs
• Experience applying AI/LLMs, RAG, agents or automation to real-world business problems
• Willingness to travel regularly to customer sites
• A strong technical signal through either recognised startup experience, founding/founding-engineer experience or a strong technical academic background