Forward Deployed Engineer, Legal

Jobtailor; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Travel up to 50%

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a senior AI/ML engineer to partner with customers in turning legal research breakthroughs into production systems. You will embed with law firms to map workflows, define high-value use cases, and deploy end-to-end AI solutions for legal analysis, drafting, and real-time case handling.

The role requires owning technical work from discovery to production adoption, communicating trade-offs across stakeholders, and traveling up to 50% with a US office presence three days per

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software/ML engineering with deployment experience.
• Experience owning AI or data-driven systems end-to-end from scoping to production.
• Production-grade coding in Python and JavaScript.
• Experience deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models.
• Ability to communicate technical trade-offs across engineering, product, risk, and executives.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% and capable of US office presence 3 days/week.

Responsibilities

• Partner with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems.
• Embed with law firms and legal teams to understand workflows and identify high-value opportunities.
• Select initial legal use cases and prove measurable value.
• Build and deploy AI systems for legal analysis, drafting, research, and real-time work with complex case records.
• Own technical work from discovery to production adoption.
• Translate customer workflows and constraints into product feedback.
• Guide customer adoption of deployed systems.
• Balance scope, speed, and quality to protect delivery.
• Contribute directly to backend and frontend code when needed.
• Codify successful patterns into tools, playbooks, or reusable building blocks.
• Share field feedback with Research and Product to improve models and deployments.
• Scale successful deployments across larger accounts and the legal market.

Skills

Software engineering

ML engineering

End-to-end ownership

Systems thinking

Communication with stakeholders

Execution under pressure

Tools

Python

JavaScript

LLMs / Generative models

Job description

• Partner with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems
• Embed with law firms and legal teams to understand workflows and identify high-value opportunities
• Select initial legal use cases and prove measurable value
• Build and deploy AI systems for legal analysis, drafting, research, and real-time work with complex case records
• Own technical work from discovery and proof of concept through production adoption
• Translate customer workflows and constraints into product feedback
• Guide customer adoption of deployed systems
• Balance scope, speed, and quality to protect delivery
• Contribute directly to backend and frontend code when needed
• Codify successful patterns into tools, playbooks, or reusable building blocks
• Share field feedback with Research and Product to improve models and deployments
• Scale successful deployments across larger accounts and the legal market

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering, ML engineering, or technical deployment experience
• Customer-facing ownership in financial services or adjacent regulated industries
• Experience with legal technology, legal services, compliance-heavy workflows, or professional services helpful but not required
• Experience owning complex AI or data-driven systems end-to-end from scoping through production adoption
• Production-grade coding across backend and frontend systems using Python, JavaScript, or comparable stacks
• Experience deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models
• Understanding of model behavior, evaluation, and guardrails
• Ability to communicate technical trade-offs across engineering, product, risk, compliance, and executive stakeholders
• Systems-thinking approach and high execution standards
• Ability to work calmly and decisively in urgent, ambiguous, high-stakes environments
• Ability to work from a US office three days per week
• Ability to travel up to 50% may be required

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in building and deploying AI systems for legal analysis and drafting, with a strong focus on customer engagement and technical ownership throughout the deployment lifecycle. Proficient in production-grade coding and capable of translating complex workflows into actionable product feedback.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• 5+ Years Software Engineering Experience
• Production-Grade Coding in Python and JavaScript
• End-to-End Ownership of AI Systems
• Customer-Facing Experience in Regulated Industries
• Understanding of Model Behavior and Evaluation

Hard Skills

• Software Engineering
• Machine Learning Engineering
• AI System Deployment
• Backend Development
• Frontend Development
• Production-Grade Coding
• Legal Technology
• Data-Driven Systems
• Complex Case Records Analysis
• Generative Models

Soft Skills

• Communication of Technical Trade-Offs
• Systems-Thinking Approach
• High Execution Standards
• Calm Decision-Making in Urgent Environments

Industry Keywords

• Legal Services
• Compliance-Heavy Workflows
• Financial Services
• Professional Services
• Customer Adoption