Head of Forward Deployed Engineering

We’re partnering with an AI company building operational intelligence for government and large enterprises . Its platform transforms fragmented, complex data into a unified view of operations, helping customers make better decisions and solve high-stakes problems.

The team works directly within customer environments, building with real data, iterating quickly, and scaling solutions once they prove their value.

The opportunity

This is a senior, hands-on role with ownership of customer deployments from the first discovery conversation through go-live.

You’ll work directly with customers to understand their operational challenges, translate ambiguous requirements into clear technical specifications, and ship production-ready software. Alongside delivery, you’ll coach a growing team of forward deployed engineers and help establish the standards for how they scope, build, and work with customers.

Expect complex environments, legacy systems, imperfect data, and decisions that require sound technical judgment. A central part of the role is recognizing when a customer-specific solution should become a reusable product capability.

What you’ll do

• Own customer deployments end to end, with accountability for successful outcomes.
• Embed with customer teams to understand their workflows and turn operational needs into working software.
• Build focused demos to test ideas and gather customer feedback early.
• Ship full-stack features quickly while maintaining the quality required for live operational systems.
• Write clear specifications that the broader engineering team can execute.
• Identify which capabilities should remain deployment-specific and which should become part of the core product.
• Coach junior engineers on scoping, delivery, customer communication, and technical judgment.
• Collaborate with product, machine learning, infrastructure, and full-stack engineering teams to resolve deployment challenges.

What you’ll bring

• At least five years of experience in forward deployed engineering, field engineering, or a similar customer-facing engineering role.
• Strong full-stack engineering skills in TypeScript and React, alongside Python or Node.js.
• A track record of delivering production software for customers.
• Confidence working directly with enterprise customers, including on-site when required.
• Clear communication, strong ownership, and the ability to make progress with incomplete or evolving requirements.
• Experience coaching junior engineers while remaining actively involved in the codebase.

Nice to have

• Experience with AI-native products, enterprise deployments, or industries with complex operational requirements.

Who will thrive here

You enjoy working close to customers, solving difficult problems, and seeing your software used in real operations. You combine speed with rigor, take responsibility for outcomes, and help the engineers around you improve.