Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

About The RoleA fast-growing, Y Combinator–backed AI startup in the industrial logistics space is hiring its first technical hire on the ground in the US. As a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer, you will own the full technical success of US customers end-to-end — sitting at the front line of every deployment and shaping how the product lands in the market.The company builds AI agents targeting the short-haul trucking and waste management sector — a massive market still largely run on spreadsheets — and is scaling rapidly with strong month-over-month growth heading toward key ARR milestones.What You'll DoLead technical deployments and onboarding for US customers from kickoff through go-liveServe as the primary technical point of contact for customers, diagnosing and resolving integration and operational issuesIntegrate the platform with customers' existing job management systems and GPS/telematics infrastructureTranslate customer feedback and real-world deployment learnings into clear product insights for the engineering teamBuild internal tooling, scripts, and processes to make deployments faster and more repeatablePartner closely with founders to define the forward-deployed function as the US business scalesAct as a trusted technical advisor to logistics operations teams, often in industrial field environmentsWhat We're Looking ForRequired3–10+ years of experience in a forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or technical implementation roleStrong software engineering fundamentals — comfortable writing code to solve customer problems on the flyExperience integrating SaaS platforms with third-party systems via APIs, webhooks, or data pipelinesExcellent communication skills — able to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical operations teamsSelf-starter mentality; comfortable operating with significant autonomy in an early-stage environmentWillingness to be on-site in Austin, TX and travel to customer sites as neededNice to HaveBackground in logistics, fleet management, waste management, or industrial operationsExperience at an early-stage startup or as a first technical hire in a marketFamiliarity with route optimization, scheduling systems, or GPS/telematics platformsExperience working with AI/ML-powered products in a deployment or customer-facing contextCompensation & BenefitsSalary: $110,000 – $135,000 USD annuallyFounding-team equity opportunityVisa sponsorship: Not available — candidates must be authorized to work in the USLocationAustin, Texas, US — on-site roleTravel to customer sites (primarily industrial/logistics environments) is expected