Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

Ladders; United States; Remote; USD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ESPP 15% discount

Health benefits

Paid vacation & company days off

Floating holidays

Family leave coverage

Employee Resource Groups

Job summary

Ladders is seeking a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer for a remote US-based role. You will bridge customer needs, product development, and applied AI to shape intelligent solutions in education, government, and non-profit sectors.

You’ll define workflows, identify automation opportunities, and translate field insights into scalable enhancements. As a founding team member, you’ll help shape the operating model, culture, and execution rhythms for the function, collaborating with stakeholders and

Qualifications

• 5+ years building and maintaining full-stack software products.
• Experience with agentic AI systems and LLM-powered applications in production.
• Strong customer-centric focus with excellent communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and make high-stakes decisions with partial information.
• Rapid prototyping skills and iteration from feedback.
• Proficiency in frontend (React, TypeScript) and backend (Next.js, TypeScript).
• Strong background in systems architecture and distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Define operational rituals and create internal playbooks for the FDE team.
• Map complex learning and development workflows and identify opportunities for AI integration with enterprise customers.
• Design and deploy custom AI agents that work seamlessly with customer systems.
• Translate customer insights into scalable platform enhancements.
• Manage the entire product lifecycle from discovery to deployment and optimization.
• Shape the culture and operational practices of the founding FDE team.

Skills

Full-stack software

Agentic AI systems

Customer-centric

Ambiguity handling

Rapid prototyping

React/TypeScript

Next.js/TypeScript

Distributed systems

Systems architecture

Tools

React

TypeScript

Next.js

Job description

For our client, we are seeking a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to join the team of a leader in the Education, Government & Non-Profit space. This role will sit at the intersection of customer engagement, product development, and applied AI, helping shape how enterprise customers adopt intelligent solutions in complex learning environments. You will work closely with customers and internal stakeholders to map workflows, identify high-impact opportunities for automation, and translate field insights into scalable product enhancements. As a founding team member, you will also help define the operating model, culture, and execution rhythms for the function.

Location: Remote - US based candidates only, no visa sponsorship available

Compensation: $125,000 – $150,000 annually

Responsibilities

• Define operational rituals and create internal playbooks for the FDE team
• Map complex learning and development workflows and identify opportunities for AI integration with enterprise customers
• Design and deploy custom AI agents that work seamlessly with customer systems
• Translate customer insights into scalable platform enhancements
• Manage the entire product lifecycle from discovery to deployment and optimization
• Shape the culture and operational practices of the founding FDE team

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in building and maintaining full-stack software products
• Experience with agentic AI systems and LLM-powered applications in production
• Strong customer-centric focus with excellent communication skills
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and make high-stakes decisions with partial information
• Proven rapid prototyping skills and ability to iterate based on feedback
• Proficiency in frontend (React, TypeScript) and backend (Next.js, TypeScript) technologies
• Strong background in systems architecture and distributed systems

Benefits

• Employee Share Purchase Plan (ESPP) at a 15% discount
• Comprehensive health benefits for well-being
• Paid vacation days, company-wide days off, and floating holidays
• Family leave coverage for new parents
• Access to Employee Resource Groups and company-wide events

Our client is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification—your background could be exactly what this team needs.