Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

JeffreyM Consulting, LLC.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

JeffreyM Consulting, LLC client seeks a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to own deployments at some of the world’s largest chip companies. You will debug a live AI agent platform in strict on-prem environments, with deep Linux and container expertise.

Must work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week and sponsor H-1B transfers only. You’ll travel occasionally to customers in the South Bay, Texas, and possibly Asia, shaping the roadmap with field learnings.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/related engineering field from a top 40 engineering school.
• 2–6 years as SWE, FDE, Solutions Engineer, or CAD/Infrastructure Engineer at a seed to Series E startup or top tech company.
• Proven track record owning multiple technical deployments end to end at the same time.

Responsibilities

• Own 1–2 large enterprise chip customer engagements end to end (3–6+ months each).
• Debug platform (Python backend, React frontend, AI agents) live on customer screens.
• Drive adoption by trainings, track issues, and close feedback loops when fixes ship.
• Contribute to core product and feed field learnings back into the roadmap.
• Travel occasionally to customers in the South Bay, Texas, and possibly Asia.

Skills

Linux/Unix

Python

Containerization

Networking

Customer engagements

Onsite work

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/ECE/ME or related

Tools

Docker

Podman

Linux tooling

Job description

Our client is an early-stage, venture-backed AI startup developing cutting-edge technology to automate complex workflows in semiconductor design and verification. Their platform uses AI agents to streamline repetitive engineering tasks, capture institutional knowledge, and help chip design teams identify issues earlier and work more efficiently.

Backed by prominent Silicon Valley investors, the company is a small, highly technical team building innovative solutions for some of the world's leading semiconductor companies. The team works in person in San Francisco.

We are looking for a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer with 2–6 years of experience to own our client's deployments at some of the largest chip companies in the world. You're a highly technical, high-ownership engineer (think early Palantir FDE, founding engineer, or past founder) who can debug a complex AI agent platform live inside strict on-prem, air-gapped customer environments. No chip background required: this is a way into semiconductors without a PhD in chip design.

This is not a typical FDE role. You won't write throwaway custom code; you'll debug a real AI agent product and shape the roadmap with what you learn in the field.

Must work 5 days/week onsite in San Francisco.

Visa Sponsorship: H-1B transfers only

What You'll Own:

• Own 1–2 large enterprise chip customer engagements end to end (3–6+ months each), from evaluation through deployment and expansion
• Debug platform (Python backend, React frontend, AI agents) in real time on customer screens, across Linux, containers, networking, and filesystems
• Drive adoption by running trainings, tracking and documenting issues, and closing the loop when fixes ship
• Contribute to the core product when there is no customer fire, and feed field learnings back into the roadmap
• Travel occasionally to customers in the South Bay, Texas, and possibly Asia

• Proven track record owning multiple technical customer engagements or deployments end to end at the same time (FDE, founding engineer, or past founder)
• Deep Linux/Unix and systems expertise: hands-on container setup (Podman/Docker), networking, ports, NFS, symlinks, permissions
• Strong Python and the ability to quickly internalize and debug a large codebase
• Bachelor's degree in CS, EE, ECE, ME, or a related engineering field from a top 40 engineering school
• 2–6 years as a SWE, FDE, Solutions Engineer, or CAD/Infrastructure Engineer at a seed to Series E startup or top tech company
• Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days a week

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a top AI, defense, or hardware company (e.g. Palantir, Databricks, Scale AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Anduril)
• Past experience as a startup founder, founding engineer, or in AI/ML

Comp range: $180-250K annually, competitive equity