Junior Forward Deployed Engineer

interplay; United States; Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Hybrid work schedule

Job summary

Interplay in New York, NY is seeking a Junior Forward Deployed Engineer to embed with our business lines, ship quickly, and iterate in the room with end users.

You will prototype tools, work across frontend, backend, and APIs, and apply AI/LLM tooling to real problems while growing in a high-ownership environment in a hybrid office schedule.

Qualifications

• 0-2 years of software engineering experience or internships.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Proficient in at least one modern frontend and backend stack.
• Experience shipping end-to-end applications.
• Strong written and verbal communication abilities.
• U.S. work authorization.

Responsibilities

• Embed with business line teams to understand workflows.
• Prototype and ship internal tools and AI-powered features.
• Translate real-world problems into scoped technical solutions.
• Write production code across frontend, backend, and APIs.
• Integrate AI-powered automation into workflows.
• Demo early, gather feedback in person, and ship again.
• Document builds and deliver durable solutions as needs stabilize.

Skills

0-2 years software engineering

Frontend and backend stack

APIs and SQL databases

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent

Tools

Next.js

Vercel

Supabase

Python

AI/LLM tooling

Claude Code / Cursor

Job description

JUNIOR FORWARD DEPLOYED ENGINEER

LOCATION

New York, NY, USA

(Hybrid work - required to be in office 2-3 days/week)

JOB DESCRIPTION

At Interplay, we invest, coach, and cofound companies. We're building a next-generation AI operations platform designed to transform how our firm and portfolio companies operate. We're looking for a Junior Forward Deployed Engineer to embed directly with our business lines (Ventures, Accelerator, Studio, and Ascend) and translate real operational needs into working software, fast. You'll sit next to the end user, ship quickly, and iterate in the room rather than over a spec doc.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Embed with business line teams to understand their workflows firsthand.
• Rapidly prototype and ship internal tools, integrations, and AI-powered features.
• Translate ambiguous, real-world problems into scoped technical solutions.
• Write production code across frontend, backend, and APIs.
• Integrate LLM-powered automation into day-to-day workflows.
• Demo early, gather feedback in person, and ship again.
• Document what you build and hand off durable solutions as needs stabilize.

WHO YOU ARE

• A builder with 0-2 years of engineering experience, hungry to learn fast in a high-ownership environment.
• Energized by ambiguity and comfortable working directly with non-technical stakeholders.
• Scrappy - you'd rather ship a rough version today than a polished one next month.
• Curious about AI and LLM tooling and eager to apply it to real problems.
• A strong communicator who can explain technical tradeoffs simply.
• Low ego, coachable, and outcome-driven.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• 0-2 years in software engineering (internships and strong personal projects count).
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Working proficiency across at least one modern frontend and backend stack.
• Track record of shipping applications end to end.
• Solid understanding of APIs and databases (SQL).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. work authorization.

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with Next.js, Vercel, and Supabase.
• Strong Python background.
• Familiarity with AI/LLM platforms (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini).
• Proficient in Claude Code / Cursor / Other AI Enabled Coding tools
• Plus (Experience building agents)

COMPENSATION

• $85-100k base salary, commensurate with experience
• Competitive health benefits