Forward Deployed Engineer

Astreya; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Astreya seeks a Forward Deployed Engineer to embed with a leading AI technology client in San Francisco. This hands-on role designs, builds, deploys, and supports internal business applications, AI-powered workflows, and automation solutions in a fast-moving environment.

You'll work as an extension of the client's engineering team, translating minimal specifications into production-ready software, owning your backlog, and delivering regular progress updates while collaborating with stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of professional software engineering experience.
• Experience turning minimal specs into production software.
• Strong client and stakeholder communication.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain internal business apps and workflows.
• Build AI-powered apps and automation tools with approved tooling.
• Translate high-level needs into technical designs and production solutions.
• Own and manage your slice of the engineering backlog and priorities.
• Perform integration, debugging, and performance optimization.
• Support demos, UAT, and production deployments.
• Create documentation and runbooks; provide progress updates.

Skills

Full-stack software engineering

Ambiguity-driven problem solving

Client-facing collaboration

AI tooling familiarity

Communication skills

Backlog ownership

Job description

Astreya is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to embed directly with a leading AI technology

client's internal SaaS/product organization. This is a hands-on, end-to-end engineering role: you'll design, build, deploy, and support internal business applications, AI-powered workflows, and automation solutions in a fast-moving, high-ambiguity environment. You'll work as a trusted

extension of the client's engineering team, translating loosely-defined business needs into

production-ready software.

What You'll Do

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain internal business applications and workflow solutions
• Build AI-powered applications, automation tools, and rapid prototypes/POCs/MVPs using client-approved tooling
• Translate high-level, often minimally-specified business requirements into technical designs and production solutions
• Own and manage your slice of the engineering backlog; continuously reprioritize alongside stakeholders
• Perform integration, debugging, performance optimization, and defect resolution
• Support demos, user acceptance testing, and production deployments
• Participate in engineering planning, technical design reviews, and cross-functional working sessions
• Produce and maintain documentation: solution designs, architecture artifacts, technical specs, runbooks, and knowledge-transfer materials
• Deliver regular status reporting on progress and blockers

What We're Looking For

• 5–8 years of professional software engineering experience (full-stack or applied engineering background preferred)
• Demonstrated ability to work from ambiguous or minimal specifications and drive solutions independently
• Experience owning the full lifecycle of a solution — design through deployment and post-launch support
• Comfort working directly with client/business stakeholders, not just internal engineering teams
• Exposure to AI-powered workflow tools, automation platforms, or LLM-based development tooling strongly preferred
• Strong communication skills — able to represent Astreya professionally in a client-embedded setting
• Adaptable to fast-changing priorities in a high-trust, low-process environment

Nice to Have

• Experience in a professional services, consulting, or staff-augmentation environment
• Background supporting enterprise SaaS or internal tooling organizations
• Familiarity with modern AI coding/dev tools (e.g., Codex-style copilots)