Forward Deployed Engineer

Ikuto; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top-Tier Equity

Job summary

Ikuto is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to sit at the intersection of data systems, customer strategy, and product development. You will engage with CIOs/CTOs and deal teams at top asset managers to solve complex data problems and own the technical relationship across the customer lifecycle.

You will prototype, deploy, and implement data integrations using Python, SQL, and AI tools, and help shape product strategy by translating real-world investor workflows into platform features.

Qualifications

• 3–8 years of experience as Software Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer / Solutions Engineer.
• CS or technical degree from a top program.
• Proven ability to run customer-facing demos and tie engineering work to outcomes.
• Hands-on familiarity with RAG, vector databases, embeddings, LLMs, and agentic workflows.

Responsibilities

• Pre-Sales & Prototyping: Build bespoke demo environments on real prospect data.
• Deployment & Implementation: Partner with core engineering to build data integrations and workflows.
• Product Strategy: Translate investor workflows into features for the core platform.

Skills

Python

SQL

AI fluency

Education

CS degree or technical degree

Tools

Cursor

Claude Code

Job description

Compensation: $150,000 – $275,000 Base Salary + Equity

Stage: $50M Series A (Backed by Tier-1 Silicon Valley VC Firms)

About the Company

Some of the world’s most exacting institutional investors spanning Private Equity, Private Credit, Venture Capital, and Crossover Funds rely on this platform to make faster, sharper investment decisions.

Institutional memory lives in messy, fragmented sources: deal memos, investment committee notes, complex Excel models, and trading histories. This company solves the complex data infrastructure layer beneath those decisions. Backed by $50M in Series A funding from top-tier venture capital firms, they build specialized intelligence platforms that reconcile structured and unstructured enterprise data to scale investor judgment.

The Role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will sit at the intersection of complex data systems, high-stakes customer strategy, and product development. You won\'t just sit behind a screen writing back-end code you will embed directly with C-level stakeholders, CIOs/CTOs, and deal teams at top-tier asset managers to solve their hardest data problems.

You will own the technical relationship across the entire customer lifecycle:

• Pre-Sales & Prototyping: Build bespoke demo environments on real prospect data, demonstrating how agentic pipelines resolve complex financial data conflicts.
• Deployment & Implementation: Partner with the core engineering team to construct data integrations, evals, and agentic workflows using Python, SQL, and modern AI coding assistants (Cursor, Claude Code).
• Product Strategy: Act as the voice of the customer translating real-world investor workflows into features that inform the core platform.

What We Are Looking For

• Technical Depth: 3–8 years of experience as a Software Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, or Solutions Engineer with strong Python and SQL skills.
• CS Fundamentals: Computer Science or technical degree from a top program.
• Customer-Facing Impact: Proven track record of working directly with external clients, driving technical demos, and tying engineering work to revenue outcomes.
• Modern AI Fluency: Hands-on familiarity with RAG, vector databases, embeddings, LLMs, and agentic workflows.
• High Agency & Founder Mindset: You thrive in ambiguity, take initiative without waiting for a script, and love 0-to-1 building.
• Domain Exposure (Plus): Prior experience in or exposure to financial services (Private Equity, Credit, VC, Asset Management) is a huge plus.

Why Join?

• High-Impact Scope: Shape the GTM and technical deployment function from the ground up alongside experienced founders and leadership.
• Top-Tier Equity: Meaningful early-stage equity in a fast-scaling, Tier-1 VC-backed company.
• Uncapped Career Trajectory: Direct mentorship and exposure to executive buyers at the world\'s premier investment firms.