Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

present of AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Soren in San Francisco, CA is seeking a Senior Engineer as the first dedicated engineering hire. You will own projects end-to-end—from initial conversations with business teams through design, coding, launch, and ongoing fixes—balancing shipping excellence with customer collaboration.

As an all‑round engineer, you’ll build AI-enabled systems, make quick, principled decisions when the path isn’t clear, and take responsibility for quality in fast-moving environments.

Qualifications

• Owns projects end-to-end from business conversations to launch.
• Ships complex AI-enabled systems in startup contexts.
• Stays calm and makes decisions when priorities are unclear.

Responsibilities

• Own each project from initial conversations through design, coding, launch and fixes.
• Ship production full-stack systems and enable integrations.

Skills

All-round engineer

Full-stack

Customer-facing

AI systems

Job description

Customer & Solutions · San Francisco, CA, US · Full-time · Senior level

This is the first engineering hire at a small startup, and it mixes software building with direct work alongside customers. The person owns each project from early conversations with business teams through design, coding, launch, and ongoing fixes. A strong candidate is a skilled all-round engineer who can ship complex systems, stay calm when the problem is unclear, and make decisions without waiting for direction.

How it fits the AI era

AI agents and automations are the core product here, so the job is about turning messy business processes into working AI software. Tools that write code can speed up the building, which makes it possible to deliver in weeks what once took far longer. What stays human is listening to customers, judging which problems are worth solving, deciding how a system fits real daily habits, and taking responsibility for quality.

How it builds AI experience

Someone in this role would gain hands‑on experience building and running AI agents inside traditional businesses across different industries, including connecting them to the software those businesses already use. To prepare, a candidate could build a small agent that automates a real workflow, wire it to a common business tool, and practice explaining the results to a non‑technical person.

Worth showing

• Shipped production full‑stack systems
• Built AI agents end to end
• Enterprise system integrations
• Customer‑facing problem solving

This is our own read, written from the employer's posting and the company's Spotlight. The employer's posting is the source of truth for the role.

About Soren

Soren builds custom AI operating systems for traditional businesses, per the company.