{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"4fde3278fef0c74faaafd6e5","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/4fde3278fef0c74faaafd6e5","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/4fde3278fef0c74faaafd6e5","title":"Platform Engineer (Forward Deployment)","description":"Who We Are\nLightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.\nThrough our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.\nWe serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.\nThe Way We Work\nThe people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:\nMove with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.\nTake Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.\nCommunicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.\nBuild Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.\nRaise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.\nThink Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.\nWhat We Are Looking For\nWe are seeking an experienced Platform Engineer to partner directly with Lightning customers to architect, build, and deploy production AI systems. Working alongside customer engineering teams, you'll solve complex technical challenges across inference infrastructure, distributed systems, APIs, and AI workflows—building reliable, observable systems that perform at scale. You'll translate customer requirements into production-ready software, turn bespoke solutions into reusable platform capabilities, and help shape the evolution of the Lightning Platform.\nWe're looking for a highly technical, customer-oriented platform engineer who thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where success requires deep software engineering expertise, sound systems thinking, and the ability to collaborate directly with customer engineering teams to bring complex AI applications into production.\nThis role is based in one of our hubs (New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, or London), with a minimum of 2 in-office days per week and occasional team and company offsites.\nWhat You'll Do\nPartner directly with customers to design, implement, and deploy end-to-end AI systems and workflows on Lightning's platform\nTranslate vague customer objectives into clear technical specifications, proof-of-concepts, and scalable production implementations\nOwn customer technical engagements end-to-end, from early discovery and architecture through deployment, monitoring, and expansion\nDevelop and maintain production-grade software systems and services using modern programming languages, with a strong preference for Python\nBuild reliable, observable systems with strong attention to latency, throughput, quality, scalability, and cost efficiency in production environments\nDebug and optimize AI systems across inference infrastructure, model behavior, APIs, and distributed workloads to improve performance and reliability\nWork closely with customer engineering teams throughout the full lifecycle of AI deployments, including technical discovery, implementation, deployment, and scaling\nCollaborate cross-functionally with Lightning's product and engineering teams to improve platform capabilities, influence roadmap priorities, and identify opportunities for reusable product improvements\nNavigate ambiguity with sound technical judgment, making thoughtful tradeoffs and selecting the right tools and approaches without introducing unnecessary complexity\nDemonstrate strong ownership and accountability in execution, with a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes for both customers and internal teams\nWhat You'll Need\nRequired Qualifications\nStrong software engineering experience building production full-stack applications, including modern frontend frameworks such as React and TypeScript, and backend services in Python, Go, or similar programming languages.\nExperience working directly with customers in highly technical environments, such as Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Applied AI Engineering, Technical Product Engineering, or related roles\nFamiliarity with AI/ML pipelines and the lifecycle of model development, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring\nExperience deploying and operating production AI/ML systems in cloud or distributed environments\nFamiliarity with modern AI infrastructure and tooling such as Docker, Kubernetes, APIs, model serving systems, or distributed inference workloads\nStrong communication and collaboration skills, especially when working through complex technical topics with customers, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders\nAbility to translate business needs into technical solutions and drive projects from initial concept through production delivery\nAbility to execute effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving, high-growth environments\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field\nNice-to-Haves\nExperience building, deploying, or optimizing large-scale AI/ML systems in production environments\nExperience with modern AI stacks and tooling such as vLLM, TensorRT, Ray, LangGraph, vector databases, or workflow orchestration systems\nFamiliarity with inference optimization, distributed systems, or GPU-accelerated workloads\nStartup experience or experience operating in highly cross-functional environments\nTrack record of rapidly shipping proof-of-concepts and production systems while maintaining strong engineering quality\nAdvanced degree (Master's or PhD) in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, AI, or a related technical field\n\nCompensation\nBenefits and Perks\nWe offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees' health, well-being, and long-term success:\nComprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.\nMeaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.\nRetirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).\nFlexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.\nCompany-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.\nPaid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.\nProfessional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.\nWellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.\nSabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.\nFlexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.\nIn-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.\nBenefits may vary by location, team, and role.\n\nAt Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.","company":"Lightningai","rawCompany":"lightningai","city":"Millbrae","state":"CA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-08-13T14:43:50.503Z","occupations":[{"code":"15-1299.08","title":"Computer Systems Engineers/Architects","slug":"computer-systems-engineers-architects"},{"code":"15-1252.00","title":"Software Developers","slug":"software-developers"},{"code":"15-1221.00","title":"Computer and Information Research Scientists","slug":"computer-and-information-research-scientists"}],"industries":[{"code":"513210","title":"Software Publishers","slug":"software-publishers"},{"code":"541512","title":"Computer Systems Design Services","slug":"computer-systems-design-services"},{"code":"541511","title":"Custom Computer Programming Services","slug":"custom-computer-programming-services"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Platform Engineer (Forward Deployment)","description":"Who We Are\nLightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.\nThrough our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.\nWe serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Firstminute.\nThe Way We Work\nThe people who thrive here are builders who move fast, communicate openly, take ownership, and continuously improve themselves, their teams, and our company. Here's what that looks like in practice:\nMove with Urgency: We move quickly, make thoughtful decisions, and keep momentum. We value action over perfection and learn by shipping.\nTake Ownership: We own outcomes, not just our individual work. We make decisions that move the company forward and follow through.\nCommunicate Openly: We communicate directly, seek to understand, and create clarity for others. Honest conversations help us move faster together.\nBuild Great Teams: We lead by example, empower others, and create healthy teams where people can do their best work.\nRaise the Bar: We're always improving ourselves. We learn from feedback, consistently challenge ourselves to grow, and focus on the work that matters most.\nThink Long-Term: We design for what's next. We create scalable systems, simplify complexity, and use AI and automation to amplify our impact.\nWhat We Are Looking For\nWe are seeking an experienced Platform Engineer to partner directly with Lightning customers to architect, build, and deploy production AI systems. Working alongside customer engineering teams, you'll solve complex technical challenges across inference infrastructure, distributed systems, APIs, and AI workflows—building reliable, observable systems that perform at scale. You'll translate customer requirements into production-ready software, turn bespoke solutions into reusable platform capabilities, and help shape the evolution of the Lightning Platform.\nWe're looking for a highly technical, customer-oriented platform engineer who thrives in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where success requires deep software engineering expertise, sound systems thinking, and the ability to collaborate directly with customer engineering teams to bring complex AI applications into production.\nThis role is based in one of our hubs (New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, or London), with a minimum of 2 in-office days per week and occasional team and company offsites.\nWhat You'll Do\nPartner directly with customers to design, implement, and deploy end-to-end AI systems and workflows on Lightning's platform\nTranslate vague customer objectives into clear technical specifications, proof-of-concepts, and scalable production implementations\nOwn customer technical engagements end-to-end, from early discovery and architecture through deployment, monitoring, and expansion\nDevelop and maintain production-grade software systems and services using modern programming languages, with a strong preference for Python\nBuild reliable, observable systems with strong attention to latency, throughput, quality, scalability, and cost efficiency in production environments\nDebug and optimize AI systems across inference infrastructure, model behavior, APIs, and distributed workloads to improve performance and reliability\nWork closely with customer engineering teams throughout the full lifecycle of AI deployments, including technical discovery, implementation, deployment, and scaling\nCollaborate cross-functionally with Lightning's product and engineering teams to improve platform capabilities, influence roadmap priorities, and identify opportunities for reusable product improvements\nNavigate ambiguity with sound technical judgment, making thoughtful tradeoffs and selecting the right tools and approaches without introducing unnecessary complexity\nDemonstrate strong ownership and accountability in execution, with a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes for both customers and internal teams\nWhat You'll Need\nRequired Qualifications\nStrong software engineering experience building production full-stack applications, including modern frontend frameworks such as React and TypeScript, and backend services in Python, Go, or similar programming languages.\nExperience working directly with customers in highly technical environments, such as Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Applied AI Engineering, Technical Product Engineering, or related roles\nFamiliarity with AI/ML pipelines and the lifecycle of model development, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring\nExperience deploying and operating production AI/ML systems in cloud or distributed environments\nFamiliarity with modern AI infrastructure and tooling such as Docker, Kubernetes, APIs, model serving systems, or distributed inference workloads\nStrong communication and collaboration skills, especially when working through complex technical topics with customers, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders\nAbility to translate business needs into technical solutions and drive projects from initial concept through production delivery\nAbility to execute effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving, high-growth environments\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field\nNice-to-Haves\nExperience building, deploying, or optimizing large-scale AI/ML systems in production environments\nExperience with modern AI stacks and tooling such as vLLM, TensorRT, Ray, LangGraph, vector databases, or workflow orchestration systems\nFamiliarity with inference optimization, distributed systems, or GPU-accelerated workloads\nStartup experience or experience operating in highly cross-functional environments\nTrack record of rapidly shipping proof-of-concepts and production systems while maintaining strong engineering quality\nAdvanced degree (Master's or PhD) in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, AI, or a related technical field\n\nCompensation\nBenefits and Perks\nWe offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support our employees' health, well-being, and long-term success:\nComprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents.\nMeaningful Equity: RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success.\nRetirement Savings: 401(k) matching (U.S.) and pension contributions (U.K.).\nFlexible Time Off: Unlimited PTO, company holidays, and floating holidays to support work-life balance.\nCompany-Wide Winter Break: Two weeks of company closure each winter to disconnect and recharge.\nPaid Parental & Family Leave: Paid leave to support you and your family through life's important moments.\nProfessional Development: Annual learning and development allowance to support your professional growth.\nWellness Benefits: Wellness and work-from-home stipends to support your physical and mental well-being.\nSabbatical Program: Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service.\nFlexible Work: Flexible schedules and a hybrid work model for our office-based teams.\nIn-Office Meals: Complimentary meals at our office hubs.\nBenefits may vary by location, team, and role.\n\nAt Lightning AI, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe that diverse teams drive innovation and create better products. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We are dedicated to building a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to their fullest potential.","datePosted":"2026-08-13T14:43:50.503Z","dateModified":"2026-08-13T14:43:50.503Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Lightningai","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Millbrae","addressRegion":"CA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"4fde3278fef0c74faaafd6e5"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/4fde3278fef0c74faaafd6e5"}}