Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

Elios AI; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive compensation

Executive-level impact

Job summary

Elios AI in New York, NY is seeking a senior technical leader to set the architectural direction across enterprise AI engagements. You will architect how clients' systems operate, balancing scale, cost, and trust, while remaining hands-on.

The role demands 10+ years in production software, 3+ years in LLM-powered systems, and a track record of leading engineers across distributed teams. You’ll mentor peers, influence CTO-level decisions, and ensure high availability of AI products.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of production software engineering, with 3+ years focused on LLM-powered systems.
• Experience architecting and shipping production AI products with measurable scale and availability.
• Consulting or enterprise delivery background with executive-level communication.
• Full-stack depth across Python, TypeScript, React, and modern backend frameworks, plus current fluency in agentic coding tools.
• History of leading engineers across distributed environments while staying hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture across engagements: orchestrator-worker agent patterns, MCP integrations, hybrid RAG systems, and LLM platforms built for scale.
• Advise executive stakeholders on AI strategy and translate it into systems that ship.
• Set the technical bar across teams, including standards for evals, reliability, cost, and responsible AI tool use.
• Unblock the hardest problems hands-on; this is a player-coach role at the highest technical level.
• Mentor senior and lead engineers across distributed teams.
• Stay genuinely current: what shipped this month, not what was in a course six months ago.

Skills

LLM systems

Production engineering

Executive communication

Full-stack development

Distributed leadership

AI tooling standards

Tools

Python

TypeScript

React

Backend frameworks

Agentic coding tools

Job description

Location: New York, NY | Type: Full Time | Setup: Hybrid | Experience: 10+ years

About the Role

Youll set technical direction across enterprise AI engagements: the architect clients bring in when the system has to work, the stakes are high, and the answer isn\u2019t in a playbook. You operate at the executive level without losing precision, and you remain a builder.

Our client deploys AI systems into production environments where availability, cost, and trust are non-negotiable. The bar here is architect, builder, communicator: a decade-plus of production engineering, deep LLM systems experience, and the judgment to direct AI tooling rather than hide behind it.

If you\u2019ve architected multi-agent platforms, shipped AI products handling thousands of daily queries, and can defend every decision to a CTO, this is your level.

What You\u2019ll Do

• Own architecture across engagements: orchestrator-worker agent patterns, MCP integrations, hybrid RAG systems, and LLM platforms built for scale
• Advise executive stakeholders on AI strategy and translate it into systems that ship
• Set the technical bar across teams, including standards for evals, reliability, cost, and responsible AI tool use
• Unblock the hardest problems hands-on; this is a player-coach role at the highest technical level
• Mentor senior and lead engineers across distributed teams
• Stay genuinely current: what shipped this month, not what was in a course six months ago

Qualifications

• 10+ years of production software engineering, with 3+ years focused on LLM-powered systems
• Experience architecting and shipping production AI products with measurable scale and availability
• Consulting or enterprise delivery background with executive-level communication
• Full-stack depth across Python, TypeScript, React, and modern backend frameworks, plus current fluency in agentic coding tools
• History of leading engineers across distributed environments while staying hands-on

Why Join Us

Top-of-market scope: the engagements with the highest stakes, the most autonomy, and clients who listen. Competitive compensation and benefits.