Forward Deployed Engineer - AI Engineer

Sierra Ventures; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Top-tier compensation

Stock options

Health & wellness

Meals in office

Parental leave

Unlimited vacation

Visa sponsorship

Team events

Job summary

Reflection is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to drive our enterprise AI efforts from discovery to production launch. You will own technical strategy, architecture, and delivery of agentic systems for customers, collaborating with sales, deployment strategists, and research teams.

You will ship production-grade AI solutions, deploy across hybrid environments, and help evolve internal playbooks as part of a growing Forward Deployed Engineering organization.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of software engineering delivering AI-driven enterprise solutions.
• Production-grade systems experience in Python and TypeScript.
• Experience deploying software in cloud or hybrid environments using modern DevOps.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Sales and Deployment Strategists to architect enterprise solutions.
• Build agentic systems and orchestrate AI workflows for production use.
• Collaborate with research to adapt models for customers.
• Support deployments across public cloud, VPC, and on‑premises at scale.
• Contribute to evolving playbooks and best practices in a growing org.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

Docker

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Vector databases

RAG pipelines

Agent orchestration

Fine-tuning

Customer-facing

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Our Mission

Reflection is a research lab making intelligence open and accessible for everyone to use, customize, and build on. We build open models that let anyone control their intelligence and help shape the future of AI. Our mission: make intelligence open and accessible to all.

Role Overview

We're looking for a core member of Reflection's Applied AI team to drive our Forward Deployed Engineering efforts with enterprise customers. This team works hands-on to translate advanced AI research into high-impact, real-world applications. As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will own the technical strategy and delivery of agentic systems from initial customer discovery through production launch.

What You’ll Do

• Partner with Deployment Strategists and Sales to understand enterprise customer needs, architect solutions, and develop transformative agentic applications.

• Build agentic systems using state-of-the-art models, orchestrating LLM workflows, integrating with enterprise infrastructure, and deploying reliable production systems.

• Collaborate with research teams to adapt and fine-tune models for customer-specific needs.

• Support end-to-end deployments across hybrid environments (public cloud, VPC, and on-premises), helping ensure scalability, performance, and reliability in production.

• Contribute to evolving playbooks, processes, and best practices as part of a growing Forward Deployed Engineering organization.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong software engineering background with experience shipping production-grade systems (Python, Typescript)

• Proven track record of deploying enterprise software in cloud or hybrid environments using modern DevOps practices (Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD).

• Deep understanding of machine learning concepts and hands-on experience with modern AI stacks, including vector databases, RAG pipelines, agent orchestration, evaluations, and fine-tuning.

• 3+ years of software engineering experience delivering AI-driven enterprise solutions (e.g., Forward Deployed Engineer, Software Engineer, or Applied AI Engineer).

• Demonstrated ability and interest to work in customer-facing environments, understanding user needs, architecting solutions for real business problems, and delivering tangible outcomes.

• Self-starter with high agency and ownership, excelling in fast-paced startup environments where playbooks are still being written.

What We Offer:

We believe that to make intelligence open and accessible to all, you need to start at the foundation. Joining Reflection means building from the ground up as part of a talent-dense team. You will help define our future as a company, and help define the future of open foundational models.

We want you to do the most impactful work of your career with the confidence that you and the people you care about most are supported.

• Top-tier compensation: Salary and equity structured to recognize and retain our talent globally.

• Stock options: Everyone who joins and contributes to Reflection's success gets to share in the upside through stock options.

• Health & wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life, with an annual wellness allowance.

• Meals: Lunch and dinner are provided in the office daily.

• Life & family: 22 weeks paid parental leave for all new birthing and non-birthing parents, including adoptive and surrogate journeys.

• Vacation days: Unlimited paid time off in the U.S. and 30 days in the U.K.

• Sponsorship support: We sponsor visas to help exceptional talent join our team and support long-term immigration pathways where applicable.

• Team building: We have regular off-sites, happy hours, and team celebrations.

Export Control Notice: This position may require access to technology or source code subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Any offer of employment for this role may be conditioned on the Company's ability to provide the candidate with access to such technology or source code in compliance with applicable U.S. export control laws, which may require the Company to seek government authorization.

Candidate and Employee Privacy Notice: We collect and process personal data about applicants for the purposes described in our Candidate and Employee Privacy Notice