Forward Deployed Engineer 4

Job Title: Forward Deployed Engineer – Staff Software Engineer (L4) Reports To: Sr. Director of Engineering, North America Role Type: Contract / Consulting Engagement Location: United States (Remote-first) Travel: Minimal — typically less than 15%About the Company: Our client is a consulting firm that does AI and data engineering work for its clients. Their model is forward-deployed: engineers embed directly with client teams — understanding the real business problem, communicating with non-technical stakeholders, and turning ambiguity into shipped, production-grade systems. They hire people who are excited to build real things, work closely with clients, and operate with a lot of autonomy.Position Overview: This firm sits at the intersection of consulting and product — and Forward Deployed Engineers are where those two things meet. As a Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll embed with mid-market and growth-stage clients to solve hard operational problems, while the patterns you surface drive the internal tools and products that make every engagement that follows better. You'll own delivery across multiple interconnected services — or a major cross-functional domain — inside client engagements, turning ambiguous business problems into production-grade AI systems.Job ResponsibilitiesDeliver AI solutions to customers — Drive large, cross-team client deliveries, absorbing ambiguous requirements and owning technical risk and dependencies all the way to production.Engineer vertical AI products — Design complex features that span multiple microservices and stacks; build and optimize end-to-end AI pipelines (RAG, fine-tuning, deployment) and establish reusable patterns others adopt; independently select and justify LLMs on cost, latency, and performance.Automate delivery via platforms/tools — Select vendors and technologies, define shared APIs and libraries, and turn repeatable engagement work into internal tooling and accelerators.Support sales & deal closing — Contribute solution architecture, delivery planning, and proposal input to help shape and win new engagements.People & process — Lead design reviews, drive discussions to consensus, mentor junior-to-mid-level engineers, and help shape the team's roadmap.Requirements (Must-Haves)8+ years as a software engineer, including significant time in a consulting or client-facing role3+ years building platform- or product-focused softwareBachelor's, Master's, or PhD in an engineering discipline, mathematics, information technology, or physicsHigh agency — defaults to action and brings solutions, not just problemsStrong client-service instincts — knows when to go deep vs. translate complex engineering for a non-technical audienceBuilder's drive — eager to prototype with modern AI tooling and continually sharpen internal toolingBonus PointsExperience at a top-tier management consultancyPublished work in ML, NLP, or AI (e.g., arXiv papers or conference references)How this team works: Remote-first and globally distributed, with limited travel. Uses leading-edge AI development tools as part of daily workflow. Small, tactical teams that move quickly across a variety of client industries and problem types.