Forward Deployed Engineer

LiveKit; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity package

Health, dental, and vision benefits

Flexible vacation policy

Job summary

LiveKit is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) in San Francisco, California to work closely with customers building real-time voice AI applications. In this role, you'll partner with engineering teams to design, prototype, and implement systems using LiveKit's platform.

The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of engineering experience and proficiency in programming languages like Go and Python. LiveKit offers a competitive salary, equity, and benefits such as health and flexible vacation policy.

Qualifications

• Strong engineering background with 5+ years of experience in backend or infrastructure engineering.
• Proficient in one or more programming languages such as Go, Python, Node, Rust, or C++.
• Comfortable working across APIs, SDKs, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with customer engineering teams to design and implement real-time applications.
• Design scalable architectures for voice AI and real-time media.
• Help customers navigate SDKs, APIs, and deployment strategies.

Skills

Backend engineering

Programming languages (Go, Python, Node, Rust, C++)

API and SDK integration

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Strong communication

Problem-solving

Job description

About LiveKit

LiveKit is building the infrastructure layer for the agentic era of computing. Our platform gives developers everything they need to build, test, deploy, scale, and observe AI agents in production. Founded in 2021, LiveKit powers voice and agentic AI applications for OpenAI, Salesforce, Spotify, Meta, and tens of thousands of other developers, collectively facilitating billions of calls each year.

About This Role

LiveKit is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to work directly with customers building real-time communication and voice AI applications on the LiveKit platform.

This role sits at the intersection of engineering, architecture, and customer implementation. Forward Deployed Engineers partner closely with customers to design systems, prototype solutions, and solve complex technical challenges as teams move from experimentation to production.

You’ll work alongside customers' engineering teams to help them successfully deploy and scale applications built on LiveKit — designing architectures, building integrations, debugging production issues, and developing reference implementations that demonstrate best practices.

This is an ideal role for engineers who enjoy solving real-world problems in real customer environments. You’ll collaborate closely with Product and Engineering to surface insights from customer implementations and help shape the future of the LiveKit platform.

Your mission: make it seamless for developers to build and scale real-time audio, video, and AI applications on LiveKit.

You’ll Thrive Here If You:

• are obsessed with helping developers succeed
• are known as the go-to person for solving tricky technical issues
• work hard and can move fast without sacrificing quality
• care deeply about polish, detail, and clear communication
• are a fast learner, frequently picking up new tools, systems, and skills

What You'll Do

• Work directly (remotely or on-site when necessary) with customer engineering teams to design and implement real-time applications built on LiveKit
• Design scalable architectures for voice AI, real-time media, and developer platform use cases
• Build prototype integrations, reference implementations, and sample applications to accelerate customer development
• Help customers navigate SDKs, APIs, infrastructure, and deployment strategies for production systems
• Debug and troubleshoot complex technical issues in production environments
• Lead technical workshops and architecture sessions with developers and product teams
• Translate customer needs into technical insights that inform product and platform development
• Partner with Product and Engineering to improve developer experience, documentation, and tooling
• Contribute code, examples, or improvements to LiveKit's open-source ecosystem when helpful
• Act as a trusted advisor helping customers successfully launch and scale applications on LiveKit

Who You Are

• Strong engineering background with 5+ years of experience in backend or infrastructure engineering
• Proficient in one or more programming languages such as Go, Python, Node, Rust, or C++
• Comfortable working across APIs, SDKs, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure
• Experience building or integrating developer platforms or real-time systems
• Able to quickly understand complex systems and debug issues in real-world environments
• Strong communicator who can collaborate directly with customer engineering teams and internal product teams
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, low-process environments where ownership and initiative matter
• Excited to work hands-on with customers solving complex technical implementation challenges

Nice to Have

• Experience with WebRTC, real-time media systems, or telephony/SIP infrastructure
• Familiarity with voice AI, conversational agents, or AI infrastructure
• Experience working in customer-facing engineering roles such as Solutions Engineer, Field Engineer, or Forward Deployed Engineer
• Experience contributing to open-source projects or developer ecosystems
• Previous experience building with or integrating LiveKit

Our Commitment to You

• An opportunity to build something truly impactful to the world
• Contribute to open source alongside world-class engineers
• Competitive salary and equity package
• Health, dental, and vision benefits
• Flexible vacation policy

LiveKit is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable law. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].