Principal Forward Deployed Engineer, HLS

Talkdesk; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Talkdesk is seeking a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to shape how our Agentic AI platform scales for top global enterprise customers. You will own end-to-end technical strategy, design reusable multi-agent architectures, and raise engineering standards across a high-impact FDE organization.

You will lead as a technical architect and hands-on engineer, delivering secure, scalable solutions and mentoring a team of FDEs to elevate customer outcomes and accelerate production deployments for

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive software engineering, architecture, or technical solutions engineering experience.
• 3+ years leading cloud services architecture and production AI/ML deployments.
• Experience leading client-side architecture for global IT environments.
• Deep mastery of multi-agent systems, RAG, memory structures, and tool-use frameworks.
• Ability to influence executive stakeholders and drive technical consensus.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead Talkdesk's largest global deployments with scalable multi-agent systems.
• Write production-grade code in Python, TypeScript, and Node.js to build AI agents and orchestration layers.
• Design reusable SDKs, templates, and deployment automation to accelerate the FDE team.
• Serve as primary technical authority for key accounts, addressing integration challenges and security.
• Mentor FDEs and champion best practices for prompt engineering and enterprise delivery.

Skills

Software engineering

Systems architecture

Technical leadership

Enterprise client-facing

Executive presence

Tools

Python

TypeScript

Node.js

REST/GraphQL

Kafka/RabbitMQ

Job description

The Principal Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is a technical leader responsible for shaping how Talkdesk’s most strategic global enterprise customers deploy and scale our Agentic AI platform. Sitting at the intersection of enterprise architecture, hands-on software engineering, and strategic client leadership, you will own the end-to-end technical strategy for tier-one accounts, design reusable multi-agent architectures, and elevate engineering standards across the entire FDE organization.This role is for an engineering lead who builds the foundational blueprints, internal tools, and architectural standards that allow Talkdesk to scale its AI platform globally. This person will excel in high-stakes environments, serving as a trusted advisor on projects accounts and has the capability to manage and provide solution guidance to executives along with driving high-impact technical execution from initial design to production.

Responsibilities

• Architecture and systems strategy: Act as the lead Technical Architect for Talkdesk’s largest, most complex global deployments. Design robust, scalable, and secure multi-agent systems, establishing architectural blueprints for enterprise integration across heterogeneous technology stacks. Ensure designs meet stringent enterprise standards for security and scale.
• Engineering and Technical Delivery: Write production-grade, highly optimized code (Python, TypeScript, Node.js) to build custom AI agents, orchestration layers, and complex integration patterns. Author foundational SDKs, reusable agent templates, and deployment automation tools that multiply the velocity and quality of the entire FDE team. Resolve the most critical, high-risk technical bottlenecks across tier-one deployments.
• Solution design and Technical Consulting: Serve as the primary technical authority for key accounts, building deep consensus with customer stakeholders including executive and principal architects. De-risk high-stakes implementations by anticipating systemic integration challenges, performance bottlenecks, and security vulnerabilities before they impact production.
• Product, Core Engineering & Strategy Alignment: Partner directly with Talkdesk Core Product and AI Engineering teams to translate customer requirements into core platform capabilities. Codify frontline deployment learnings into standard solution patterns, directly influencing Talkdesk’s long-term Agentic AI roadmap.
• Maintain high engineering standards and mentor: Mentor and raise the technical bar for FDEs through code reviews, architecture reviews, and design documentation standardizations. Define and champion engineering best practices for prompt engineering, agent evaluation, agentic workflow orchestration, and enterprise software delivery.

Who You Are

You are a visionary builder and technical leader who thrives in ambiguous, fast-paced enterprise environments. You bring deep expertise in distributed systems and modern AI architectures, paired with the executive presence needed to guide Fortune 500 technology executives through complex digital transformations.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, systems architecture, or technical solutions engineering, with 3+ years focused on cloud services architecting and deploying complex AI/ML/Agentic solutions in production.
• Proven Track Record at Enterprise Scale: Experience leading client-side architecture and integration for large IT environments (e.g., global ERPs, legacy contact center infrastructure, enterprise CRMs).
• Deep Mastery of Agentic AI Systems: Proven experience designing and orchestrating multi-agent systems, complex RAG pipelines, planning algorithms, long/short-term memory structures, and tool-use/function-calling frameworks.
• Complex Systems Integration: Expert knowledge of enterprise integration patterns (REST/GraphQL APIs, webhooks, gRPC, event-driven architectures, Kafka/RabbitMQ) and enterprise data flows.
• Executive Presence & Influence: Demonstrated ability to build trust, navigate complex organizational dynamics, and drive technical consensus with C-suite executives and VP-level engineering leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture, advanced vector database management (Pinecone, Qdrant, Milvus, pgvector), and LLM evaluation frameworks.
• Healthcare: Epic, Cerner, Aetna/Payer systems.
• Retail/E-commerce: Salesforce, SAP, complex inventory management platforms.
• Prior experience in the Contact Center (CCaaS), Unified Communications (UCaaS), or Customer Experience (CX) industry.
• Contributions to open-source AI frameworks, developer tools, or public technical thought leadership.