Software Engineer (Forward-Deployed) – Series C AI Start-up (Unicorn status)

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Orbis Group
Washington -Baltimore, United States
180000 - 220000 USD / Year
  • IT
  • FullTime
  • Applications have closed

Forward Deployed Engineer

📍 US (Hybrid + Travel) | 💰 Up to ~$220,000 base + 20% bonus + equity

About the Company

This unicorn AI company recently raised $100M to build the infrastructure for trustworthy, explainable AI — systems that can reason through their own steps, verify information, and fact-check themselves before acting.

They’re solving one of the hardest problems in AI: how to move from demos to secure, production-grade deployments that organizations can actually trust.

The team is deeply technical, combining expertise in data pipelines, model orchestration, and large-scale reasoning systems across hybrid environments (cloud, on-prem, and air-gapped).

The Role

They’re hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to work directly with enterprise and government customers — designing, deploying, and supporting complex AI systems in real-world environments.

You’ll move fast from prototype to production, building pipelines, containerizing services, and creating the interfaces that make these systems usable in the field.

This role blends hands-on engineering, DevOps, and customer engagement. You’ll act as the bridge between product and deployment, ensuring every solution is reliable, observable, and ready for mission-critical use.

What You’ll Do

  • Build, deploy, and maintain production AI systems using Python, React, and modern DevOps tooling
  • Containerize and orchestrate services with Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm across cloud and hybrid environments
  • Fine-tune and integrate LLMs, retrieval pipelines, and data flows into customer infrastructure
  • Design deployment playbooks, monitoring, and rollback strategies for secure, repeatable rollouts
  • Embed with customer teams to scope, deliver, and operationalize new capabilities
  • Capture deployment learnings into reusable frameworks and internal tooling

You Might Be a Fit If You…

  • Have 5+ years of software engineering or DevOps experience in production environments
  • Are fluent in Python and comfortable across frontend (React/TypeScript) and backend systems
  • Have deep experience with Docker , Kubernetes , and ideally Helm (branching/forking charts, managing rollouts)
  • Understand cloud infrastructure (AWS required; multi-cloud a plus) and CI/CD workflows
  • Communicate clearly with both engineers and executives; enjoy embedding with customers
  • Thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous settings where you own delivery end-to-end
  • Are open to periodic travel (approx. 25–45%) for on-site deployments

Why Join

  • Join a unicorn shaping how enterprises adopt and trust AI
  • High ownership on technically ambitious, customer-facing projects
  • Competitive comp package (base, bonus, equity)
  • Work with exceptional engineers solving real deployment challenges — not just demos
  • See your work move from prototype → production → real-world impact

If this sounds good to you, apply below!

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