Forward Deployed Engineer

San Francisco, CA On-site Full-time Compensation: $130,000–$160,000 base + uncapped commission (5–7% of contract value) + 0.2–0.7% equity About The Company Our client is a seed-stage company building the AI-adoption layer for large US enterprises — the operating layer that makes enterprise AI reliable, safe, and genuinely usable at scale. The platform sits at the center of how big organizations adopt AI, serving both technical teams and operations leaders who rely on it to understand what their systems know, how their processes run, and how AI behaves in real scenarios. Early customers already include major media and entertainment enterprises. The team is small, engineering-led, and moves fast while holding a high bar for clarity, correctness, and maintainability. Founded 2025 1–10 people (Seed) Industry: AI Tools The Role A Forward Deployed Engineer role weighted more toward commercial work than pure engineering. Most of the job is going deep with enterprise customers — understanding their systems, diagnosing their real pain points, and scoping and selling a technical solution that fits. Technical fluency and working knowledge of AI are essential, but the role is measured on customer outcomes and closed contracts, not volume of code shipped. It sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and operations. Tech stack: Cross-stack in practice — APIs, data layers, UI surfaces, and customer-facing tooling, with LLM / retrieval / search adjacency. Requirements 2–5 years of experienceA forward-deployed, solutions-engineering, or otherwise customer-facing technical backgroundGenuine technical fluency and working knowledge of modern AIPrior startup experience (strongly preferred)On-site in San Francisco five days a week; relocation supported Nice to Haves Prior forward-deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or comparable customer-facing technical experienceA startup chapter with evidence of full end-to-end ownership rather than a narrow assigned scopeA strong academic recordExperience at a deployment-heavy AI companyThe rare ability to hold both sides of the role credibly — technical depth with enterprise buyers and commercial instinct in the room Why Join Ground-floor commercial ownership: an early Forward Deployed Engineer working directly with the CEO, owning enterprise relationships from discovery through technical scoping to closed contractMajor enterprise customers already onboard at seed stageReal upside: uncapped commission (5–7% of contract value) on top of base, plus meaningful early-employee equity; meals covered and relocation supported Details Location — San Francisco, CAWork policy — On-site, 5 days/week; relocation supportedCompensation — $130,000–$160,000 base + uncapped commission (5–7% of contract value) + 0.2–0.7% equityVisa sponsorship — Available (H-1B, O-1, OPT)Employment type — Full-time