Forward Deployed Engineer

About the job

Forward Deployed Engineer | London | 150K - 300K + equity. (Office based role)

Please note the requirements for this role are very important; if you don't match them, then you will not be considered.

We're recruiting on behalf of a fast-growing, venture-backed software company building AI-driven tooling that changes how engineering teams ship code. Their customers are some of the most technically advanced companies in the world, and they are hiring one of their first Forward Deployed Engineers.

This is a role for a strong engineer who wants to be close to the customer. One day you'll be deep in the core product fixing a hard problem. The next you'll be walking a VP of Engineering through an architectural decision. The function is new, so you'll also shape how it runs as it scales.

What you'll do

• Own customers end-to-end. Understand each customer's architecture, design an implementation that fits their systems, and pair with their engineers to deliver it.
• Lead the technical relationship. You are the technical lead to engineering leadership (VPs of Engineering, Staff+ engineers) through scoping, integration, and rollout. A commercial partner handles pricing and contracts.
• Ship into the core product. Debug and fix the issues blocking a rollout, often deep in the core technology, and build features that move the product forward for every customer.
• Influence the roadmap. Bring back what you learn in the field and decide what gets built next, shipping it yourself where it makes sense.
• Build the playbook. Establish the processes, tooling, and best practices that make each deployment faster than the last.

What we're looking for

• 3 to 8 years in a demanding engineering role, including at least one deeply technical position at a high-growth startup (founding engineer or ex-founder, for example).
• Recent production code. This is a hands-on engineering role, not solutions architecture or consulting.
• Strong algorithmic and problem-solving ability. The interview process tests this rigorously.
• Experience navigating and debugging large, unfamiliar codebases, such as low-level web platform internals, CI integrations, and web APIs.
• Experience of, or a real appetite for, customer-facing technical work: integrations, deployments, and pilots with engineering teams.
• A strong computer science background from a leading university, or equivalent depth shown through early and serious coding (competitive programming, open source).
• Something that makes you stand out, whether that's an exceptional company, an academic record, or a hackathon win.

Nice to have

• You've built or scaled a greenfield product as a primary engineer, taking it from zero to meaningful revenue.

What to know before you apply

• The role is on-site in London five days a week, with up to 25% travel to customer sites.
• The team, customers, and investors are spread across the UK and US, so hours are not always nine to five.
• The work is intense and the problems are hard. It suits people who enjoy that.
• This is not a pure individual contributor role. Customer interaction and repeat deployment work are part of the job.

The package

• 150K to 300K base salary, depending on experience
• Competitive equity

If this sounds like you, apply or message me directly for a confidential conversation.

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