Forward Deployed Engineer

Reach Velocity - Emerging Technology ?? ??; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Reach Velocity - Emerging Technology is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer for a hands-on role in San Francisco or New York City. The position focuses on building AI-enabled data products for customers, combining engineering, data, and customer interaction from discovery through delivery.

You will write production code, integrate diverse data sources, and work with customers to demonstrate solutions and turn them into repeatable capabilities.

Qualifications

• 3–8 years of relevant engineering experience, including customer-facing work.
• Proven production backend or full-stack software experience.
• Strong Python and SQL skills; comfortable with existing codebases.
• Experience with data pipelines and handling unstructured data.
• Practical understanding of LLM apps, embeddings, RAG, and vector databases.
• Experience working with external customers on technical implementations.
• Ability to define a path forward when requirements are unclear and build from scratch.
• Genuine interest in combining engineering, customer relationships, and business impact.
• Degree in computer science or a related technical discipline from a respected university.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with customers to understand processes, data sources, and success criteria.
• Build integrations and applications connecting documents, spreadsheets, databases, and APIs.
• Reconcile inconsistent or unstructured data and make it reliable and usable.
• Develop prototypes, demonstrations, and customer-facing interfaces.
• Support technical discovery, product demonstrations, and solution design.
• Contribute to deployment, evaluation, troubleshooting, and post-implementation improvements.
• Identify recurring customer needs and turn solutions into reusable capabilities.
• Explain architecture, trade-offs, and results to technical and senior stakeholders.

Skills

Python

SQL

Data pipelines

LLM applications

Embeddings

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

APIs

Databases

Git

Job description

San Francisco or New York City · Onsite · Full-time

Build software that solves the problems customers actually face.

We’re hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer for a growing technology company building AI-enabled data products for organizations with complex information and demanding workflows. This role combines hands‑on production engineering with direct customer work, from understanding a problem and demonstrating a solution through implementation and ongoing improvement.

You’ll work closely with engineering and commercial teams, write production code, and help customers make practical use of data and AI. You’ll own projects from discovery through delivery and help turn successful customer solutions into repeatable product capabilities.

What you’ll do

• Work directly with customers to understand their processes, data sources, and success criteria.
• Build integrations and applications connecting documents, spreadsheets, databases, and APIs.
• Reconcile inconsistent or unstructured data and make it reliable and usable.
• Develop prototypes, demonstrations, and customer‑facing interfaces.
• Support technical discovery, product demonstrations, and solution design.
• Contribute to deployment, evaluation, troubleshooting, and post‑implementation improvements.
• Identify recurring customer needs and turn individual solutions into reusable capabilities.
• Explain architecture, trade‑offs, and results clearly to technical and senior business stakeholders.

What you’ll bring

• Typically 3–8 years of relevant engineering experience, including substantial customer‑facing work.
• Proven experience building and maintaining production backend or full‑stack software.
• Strong Python and SQL skills, with confidence navigating existing codebases.
• Experience working with data pipelines, integrations, and inconsistent or unstructured data.
• A practical understanding of LLM applications, RAG, embeddings, vector databases, and agent workflows.
• Experience working with external customers on technical implementations, solutions engineering, or similar delivery responsibilities.
• The ability to define a path forward when requirements are incomplete and build from scratch.
• Genuine interest in combining engineering, customer relationships, and commercial impact.
• A degree in computer science or another technical discipline from a highly regarded university.

Experience in financial services, enterprise data platforms, developer tools, or an early‑stage AI company is especially useful.

Location and compensation

This is an onsite position in San Francisco or New York City. Candidates must already be based in one of these locations or be willing to relocate. The base salary range is $150,000–$275,000, depending on experience, plus competitive equity. Visa sponsorship and transfers may be considered based on individual circumstances.

The interview process includes an introductory conversation, a practical coding exercise, and sessions covering engineering collaboration, customer scenarios, and presentation skills.