Forward Deployed Engineer - AI systems focused - NYC or Boston

Jobzhr; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobzhr is partnering with a leading US private equity firm to hire a Forward Deployed Engineer into their Portfolio Operations team. You will work across a portfolio of B2B software companies, partnering with CTOs and engineering teams to identify where AI can transform products and operations, then help build and implement it.

The role blends hands-on building with advisory work, requiring the ability to take a messy business problem and turn it into a concrete technical solution while

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering fundamentals.
• Experience shipping AI/agentic systems into production.
• Ability to translate complex business problems into technical solutions.
• Forward Deployed Engineering experience is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with CTOs and engineering teams across the portfolio.
• Identify opportunities for AI to transform products and operations.
• Build and implement AI solutions in production environments.
• Balance hands-on building with advisory and problem-solving to senior stakeholders.

Skills

Software engineering

AI systems

Problem solving

Ownership

Context switching

Job description

I'm partnering with a leading US private equity firm to hire a Forward Deployed Engineer into their Portfolio Operations team.

This is a pretty unique role — you'll work across a portfolio of B2B software companies, partnering directly with CTOs and engineering teams to identify where AI can transform their products and operations, then actually help build and implement it.

We're looking for someone who:

• Has strong software engineering fundamentals and enjoys solving ambiguous problems
• Has built and shipped AI/agentic systems into production
• Can take a messy business problem, understand it from C-suite through to engineering, and turn it into a technical solution
• Has genuine 0→1 ownership — not just contributing to someone else's build
• Is naturally curious about how AI and automation can change the way companies operate
• Can comfortably context-switch across different businesses, industries and technical environments

Previous Forward Deployed Engineering experience is highly desirable, but we're open to adjacent backgrounds where you've done similar work.

The role is roughly 50/50 hands-on building and advisory/problem solving, with significant exposure to senior technical and business leaders across the portfolio.

NYC or Boston based with a flexible hybrid schedule + travel (~20-35%)

If you've spent the last few years thinking “surely we can automate this” every time you see an inefficient process, this will probably be up your street.