Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - NYC

Vibehackers; New York, Northern (NY, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Hybrid work (3 days/week in-office)

Travel up to 50%

Job summary

OpenAI in New York, NY is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead end-to-end deployments of frontier models in production for strategic customers, spanning discovery, scoping, system design, implementation and rollout.

You will partner with customer engineering and cross-functional teams, with travel up to 50% and relocation assistance offered. This role emphasizes field-driven iteration and production-ready solutions.

Qualifications

• Experience leading end-to-end deployments of complex systems.
• Proven ability to scope, design and deploy production-grade solutions.
• Strong communication with engineers, product teams and customers.

Responsibilities

• Own technical delivery across multiple deployments from prototype to production.
• Build full-stack systems delivering customer value and learnings for product and research.
• Embed with customer teams to understand needs and guide adoption.
• Scope work, sequence delivery, remove blockers, and balance scope, speed and quality.
• Contribute code when needed and formalize patterns into tools or playbooks.
• Provide field feedback to inform Research and Product on model behavior and impact.
• Maintain clarity and follow-through to keep cross-functional teams aligned.

Skills

System design

Full-stack development

Customer engagement

Technical scoping

Production deployment

Project planning

Trade-off analysis

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Risk identification

Evaluation-driven feedback

Job description

Works directly with LLMs and generative models to deploy AI systems in production, emphasizing field-driven iteration and rapid model-informed product changes.

About the Role

Forward Deployed Engineer at OpenAI based in New York, responsible for leading end-to-end deployments of frontier models in production with strategic customers. The role owns technical scoping, system design, full-stack implementation, and production rollout while partnering with customer engineering and cross-functional teams.

Job Description

Role

Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) lead complex end-to-end deployments of frontier models in production alongside strategic customers. You will own discovery, technical scoping, system design, implementation, and production rollout, partnering directly with customer engineering and domain teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Own technical delivery across multiple deployments from prototype to stable production.
• Build full-stack systems that deliver customer value and generate learnings for product and research.
• Embed with customer teams to understand needs and guide adoption.
• Scope work, sequence delivery, remove blockers, and make trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality.
• Contribute code directly when necessary and codify working patterns into tools or playbooks.
• Share field feedback to inform Research and Product on model behavior and product impact.
• Maintain clarity and follow-through to keep cross-functional teams moving.

Requirements

• 5+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience that includes customer-facing work.
• Experience scoping and delivering complex systems in fast-moving or ambiguous environments.
• Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models and understanding how model behavior affects product experience.
• Strong communication skills with engineers, product teams, and customer stakeholders.
• Ability to identify risks early, make sound decisions under pressure, and model calm judgment in high-stakes situations.

Location & Work Model

• Role based in New York (hybrid): expected 3 days in-office per week.
• Relocation assistance offered.
• Travel up to 50% required.
• Work closely with Product, Research, Partnerships, GRC, Security, and GTM teams.

Skills

System Design Full-stack Development Customer Engagement Technical Scoping Production Deployment Project Planning Trade-off Analysis Communication Risk Identification Cross-functional Collaboration Evaluation-driven Feedback

Experience Level

Senior

Employment Type

FullTime

• Relocation assistance
• Hybrid work (3 days/week in-office)
• Travel up to 50% required
• Reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities