Head of Field Engineering

Oumi; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in a high-growth startup

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance

21 days PTO

Regular team offsites and events

Job summary

A pioneering AI company is seeking a Head of Field Engineering in Seattle to build and lead their customer-facing technical division. The role involves driving customer engagement through the entire lifecycle, from technical discovery to deployment. With over 5 years of experience in machine learning and strong leadership skills, you will shape technical strategy and guide clients in deploying custom AI models. This position offers equity and comprehensive benefits in a flexible work environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in applied machine learning or related technical roles.
• 2+ years leadership experience in customer-facing technical organizations.
• Strong track record of leading complex enterprise customer engagements.
• Strong Python and ML tooling experience.
• Ability to drive cross-functional initiatives with Sales, Product and Eng.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the field engineering function at Oumi.
• Drive engagement through pre-sales and post-sales lifecycle.
• Guide customers in designing, training, and deploying custom models.
• Partner with Sales to shape deals and remove blockers.
• Develop repeatable playbooks, demos, and enablement materials.
• Represent Oumi in executive meetings and strategic accounts.

Skills

Applied AI and ML expertise

Customer-facing leadership

Technical depth

GTM partnership

Builder mindset

Operational excellence

Tools

Python

Modern AI/LLM systems

Agent systems

Job description

About Oumi

Why we exist: Oumi is on a mission to make frontier AI truly open for all. We are founded on the belief that AI will have a transformative impact on humanity, and that developing it collectively, in the open, is the best path forward to ensure it is done efficiently and safely. By providing the safest, highest quality, and most flexible AI, we aspire to unlock positive impact for every individual, enterprise, and humanity overall.

What we do: Oumi provides an end‑to‑end, AI‑native platform to build custom AI models in hours, not months – automating the loop of evaluation, data synthesis, training, and repeat. Oumi also develops an open research stack and models in collaboration with academic collaborators and the open community.

Our Approach:

• Research‑driven: We conduct and publish original AI research, working closely with academic research labs and collaborators across the globe.
• Community‑powered: We believe in the strength of open collaboration and actively welcome contributions from researchers and developers worldwide.
• Accessibility‑focused: We design Oumi to help any organization—regardless of size or resources—to effectively build, deploy, and benefit from AI by lowering barriers to access, experimentation, and adoption.

Role Overview

We’re hiring a Head of Field Engineering at Oumi to build and lead the customer‑facing technical function that bridges Oumi’s platform, product, and research capabilities with customer outcomes. This leader will own the strategy and execution for field engineering across the customer lifecycle, from technical discovery and solution design through proof of concept, deployment, onboarding, and expansion.

You will

• Build and lead the field engineering function: Define the vision, operating model, and roadmap for Oumi’s field engineering organization, including hiring, mentoring, and scaling a high‑performing team.
• Own technical customer engagement: Partner with customers across the pre‑sales and post‑sales lifecycle, from technical qualification and solution architecture to proofs of concept, deployment, and long‑term success.
• Lead applied AI work: Guide customers in designing, training, and deploying custom models using Oumi’s platform, including data preparation, model training, fine‑tuning, evaluation, and production deployment.
• Partner closely with Sales: Serve as a strategic technical partner to GTM leadership, helping shape deal strategy, remove technical blockers, and improve conversion, expansion, and customer satisfaction.
• Translate customer needs into product direction: Build strong feedback loops between customers and Oumi’s Product, Research, and Engineering teams to influence roadmap, prioritization, and platform improvements.
• Establish repeatable playbooks: Develop the technical demos, implementation patterns, enablement materials, and best practices that help both customers and internal teams succeed.
• Represent Oumi externally: Act as a senior technical ambassador in customer meetings, executive conversations, strategic accounts, and community or partner engagements.

What You’ll Bring

• Total experience: 5+ years across applied machine learning, machine learning infrastructure, solutions engineering, sales engineering, forward‑deployed engineering, field engineering, or related customer‑facing technical roles.
• Leadership experience (preferred, not required): 2+ years leading teams or managing senior individual contributors in customer‑facing technical organizations.
• Customer‑facing leadership: Strong track record of leading complex enterprise customer engagements and communicating effectively with both technical practitioners and executive stakeholders.
• Applied AI and ML expertise: Deep understanding of modern machine learning workflows, with hands‑on experience training, fine‑tuning, evaluating, or deploying foundation models such as LLMs, multimodal systems, or other advanced AI models.
• Technical depth: Proficient in Python and strong practical experience with modern AI/LLM systems, model training frameworks, and production use cases such as RAG, agents, or agentic systems.
• GTM partnership: Experience partnering closely with Sales and customer success functions to shape technical strategy, support strategic deals, and improve customer adoption.
• Builder mindset: Excited to build a function from the ground up, define processes in ambiguity, and scale what works.
• Operational excellence: Ability to operate effectively in fast‑changing environments, prioritize well, and drive cross‑functional execution end to end.
• Values: Embody Oumi’s core values of Beneficial for All, Customer‑Obsessed, Radical Ownership, Exceptional Teammates, and Science‑Grounded.

Benefits

• Equity in a high‑growth startup
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• 21 days PTO
• Regular team offsites and events

Location

• Remote OR hybrid work environment, with offices in:
  • San Mateo, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • New York, NY