Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

Eliza; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Performance bonuses

Equity options

Remote work flexibility

Leadership opportunities

Job summary

A leading AI technology services company in Austin, Texas is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to lead the delivery of complex AI solutions. The role combines deep technical expertise with client engagement, focusing on integrating AI technologies into client operations. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in software engineering with a strong background in AI/ML and excellent communication skills. This position offers competitive compensation, including bonuses, and remote flexibility options.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of software engineering experience in AI/ML.
• Experience leading technical delivery in consulting.
• Understanding of AI architectures and LLM deployment.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and design of AI/ML solutions.
• Serve as senior technical point of contact during engagements.
• Build AI-driven applications using modern frameworks.

Skills

Software engineering experience

AI/ML expertise

Client-facing technical delivery

Strong communication skills

Fluency in Python

Tools

Python

AWS

GCP

Azure

Docker

Job description

About Us

We are a technology services company on the frontier of applied AI. We partner with forward‑thinking organizations to build, customize, and deploy high‑impact AI solutions—from generative models and intelligent agents to scalable machine learning systems. Our work spans industries and use cases, and we operate as both builders and strategic partners to help our clients unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence.

Job Summary

We are hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to lead complex, client‑facing AI engineering projects. This role blends deep technical expertise with high‑level consulting skills: you’ll be responsible for scoping, designing, and delivering mission‑critical AI solutions, while guiding clients through technical and strategic decision‑making. You’ll act as both a trusted advisor and a hands‑on technical leader, embedded directly with client teams to ensure the successful deployment and adoption of AI technologies.

This is an ideal role for someone who thrives in ambiguous environments, enjoys solving hard real‑world problems with code, and wants to shape the future of AI in enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technical Leadership & Solution Design

• Lead architecture and design of AI/ML solutions tailored to unique client requirements, balancing scalability, performance, and maintainability.
• Guide clients through decisions related to LLM integration, data engineering, infrastructure design, and model operations.
• Own end‑to‑end solution delivery, from exploration and rapid prototyping to production deployment and handoff.

2. Client Engagement & Consulting

• Serve as the senior technical point of contact during client engagements—trusted by executives, product leaders, and technical teams alike.
• Conduct technical discovery, shape implementation roadmaps, and communicate risks and trade‑offs clearly to diverse stakeholders.
• Influence long‑term client strategy through technical advisory, architectural reviews, and enablement sessions.

3. Deep AI Engineering

• Build AI‑driven applications using modern frameworks and tools (e.g., Python, LangChain, FastAPI, Docker, cloud‑native platforms).
• Design and implement workflows involving generative AI (e.g., retrieval‑augmented generation, prompt tuning, embeddings pipelines).
• Collaborate with internal research, data, and platform teams to extend company‑wide best practices to client‑specific contexts.

4. Mentorship & Technical Enablement

• Mentor junior engineers and consultants across engagements, fostering a high bar for technical quality and client service.
• Help define internal tooling, architecture patterns, and deployment playbooks based on field experience.
• Represent the engineering team in pre‑sales discussions, project scoping, and high‑stakes strategic planning.

Qualifications

Required

• 5–8+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3+ years in AI/ML‑focused roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical delivery in a client‑facing or consulting environment.
• Strong understanding of modern AI architectures, including experience deploying LLMs, building RAG pipelines, and working with vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, Weaviate, FAISS).
• Fluency in Python, with experience in cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), containerization, and scalable API design.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; able to command technical and business conversations with senior stakeholders.

Preferred

• Experience in regulated or high‑complexity environments (e.g., finance, healthcare, legal, government).
• Familiarity with enterprise AI lifecycle tools (e.g., MLflow, Ray, Databricks, Airflow).
• Contributions to open‑source AI tools or internal frameworks in previous roles.
• Willingness to travel for key client engagements (if applicable).

What We Offer

• Executive‑level impact and visibility across high‑profile client projects.
• Leadership opportunities in a rapidly growing AI services company.
• Competitive compensation, including salary, performance bonuses, and equity.
• Remote flexibility with options for on‑site work and client immersion.
• A high‑trust, high‑caliber team passionate about shaping the AI frontier.