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Forward Deployed Engineer
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Posted about 4 hours ago
Full Time
San Francisco, California
$160,000 - $200,000 Annually
About Our Client
Our client is building the foundational software platform for the next generation of robotics. Their mission is to create a unified operating system that enables robots to perceive, reason, learn, and act across diverse real-world environments.
By abstracting hardware complexity and standardizing core robotic capabilities, their platform allows developers and organizations to deploy robotic intelligence more efficiently across a wide range of robotic platforms and use cases.
Backed by significant venture funding and led by an experienced founder, the company is rapidly expanding across industries including security, agriculture, logistics, and industrial automation. Their team is intentionally small, highly technical, and focused on solving some of the most challenging problems in robotics and AI.
About the Role
Our client is seeking a Forward-Deployed Engineer to work directly at the intersection of customers, software, and physical robotic systems.
This role is focused on the final mile of deployment—taking advanced robotics software and making it work reliably in real-world environments. You'll partner directly with customers, deploy systems in the field, troubleshoot production issues, and help shape the product by bringing customer feedback and operational learnings back to engineering.
This position is ideal for engineers who enjoy combining software development, customer interaction, and hands-on work with robotics or automation systems.
Required Skills & Experience
Experience
Nice-to-Have Skills
Technical Experience
What You'll Do
Tech Stack
Python • Rust • ROS • TypeScript
Why Join?
Additional Information
Our client is building the foundational software platform for the next generation of robotics. Their mission is to create a unified operating system that enables robots to perceive, reason, learn, and act across diverse real-world environments.
By abstracting hardware complexity and standardizing core robotic capabilities, their platform allows developers and organizations to deploy robotic intelligence more efficiently across a wide range of robotic platforms and use cases.
Backed by significant venture funding and led by an experienced founder, the company is rapidly expanding across industries including security, agriculture, logistics, and industrial automation. Their team is intentionally small, highly technical, and focused on solving some of the most challenging problems in robotics and AI.
Our client is seeking a Forward-Deployed Engineer to work directly at the intersection of customers, software, and physical robotic systems.
This role is focused on the final mile of deployment—taking advanced robotics software and making it work reliably in real-world environments. You'll partner directly with customers, deploy systems in the field, troubleshoot production issues, and help shape the product by bringing customer feedback and operational learnings back to engineering.
This position is ideal for engineers who enjoy combining software development, customer interaction, and hands-on work with robotics or automation systems.
Experience
- 2–4+ years of experience in full-stack software engineering (backend-leaning), robotics engineering, Forward-Deployed Engineering, or a similar technical role
- Experience working at an early-stage startup or large technology company with demonstrated robotics or automation interest
- Ownership of end-to-end customer deployments, implementations, or integrations in production environments
- Experience working directly with customers or end users to solve technical problems
- Ability to navigate unfamiliar codebases, identify issues, and ship production-quality backend code
- Genuine interest in robotics, automation, or physical systems
- Strong Python development experience
- Backend software engineering experience in production environments
- Ability to translate ambiguous customer requirements into technical solutions
- Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and problem-solving skills
- Excellent communication and customer-facing skills
- Comfortable operating in highly ambiguous environments
- High ownership mentality and bias toward action
- Ability to bridge the gap between customer needs and engineering execution
Technical Experience
- Rust development experience
- TypeScript development experience
- Experience with ROS (Robot Operating System)
- Experience with robotics middleware or robotics software platforms
- Experience integrating software with physical systems, hardware, sensors, or automation equipment
- Hardware deployment or field engineering experience
- Experience supporting autonomous systems or industrial robotics
- Former founder or startup operator
- Technical Solutions Engineer with robotics exposure
- Robotics software engineer looking for a customer-facing role
- Experience in security, agriculture, logistics, manufacturing, warehouse automation, or industrial robotics
- Deploy and integrate robotic systems into customer environments
- Work directly with customers to understand workflows, operational requirements, and technical challenges
- Own deployments from planning through implementation and production support
- Troubleshoot software, integration, and operational issues in real-world environments
- Diagnose and resolve issues across software, hardware, and infrastructure layers
- Translate customer feedback into product and engineering improvements
- Partner closely with product and engineering teams to improve platform capabilities
- Help establish scalable deployment and implementation processes as the company grows
- Travel to customer sites as needed to support deployments and integrations
Python • Rust • ROS • TypeScript
- Opportunity to help define the future of robotics software
- Well-funded startup with strong growth trajectory
- Small, highly technical team with significant ownership
- Direct customer impact and visibility
- Ability to work on real-world robotic deployments across multiple industries
- Fast-paced environment with meaningful technical challenges
- Domestic travel required approximately 10–25% of the time
- High-ownership startup environment
- Significant customer interaction and field deployment work
- Opportunity to influence both product direction and deployment strategy
