Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

Founding Forward Deployed Engineer | San Francisco (Onsite) | $160K–$230K base

We've partnered with an early-stage, AI-native startup that is bringing agentic AI to the back office of the trucking and logistics world. Their platform plugs into the dozen-plus systems a carrier already runs, from dispatch and telematics to safety and transport management, and gives operators a single intelligent agent that autonomously handles the repetitive communications and knowledge work that used to eat entire teams. It is already live with some of the largest fleet operators in the US, autonomously handling the majority of routine tasks with strong customer satisfaction. The company is built by ex-Samsara engineers and real fleet operators, so the domain credibility is deep, and it is backed by top-tier investors with a very high talent bar and a flat, fast-moving culture.

This is a rare opportunity to be the founding technical hire on the deployment side and own the forward deployed function from day one. You will sit at the intersection of engineering, customers and product: taking agentic AI systems from demo to production inside real enterprise operations, writing the code that unblocks deals, and building the deployment playbook that the whole company scales on. It comes with a very significant equity package and a genuine path to leadership as the team grows. If you are an engineer who actually wants to be in the room with customers and build the function around yourself, this is a founding seat with outsized influence.

The Role:

As a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer, you will:

• Lead technical discovery, design proofs of concept, and run tailored demos mapped to each prospect's real workflows and pain points.
• Embed on-site with customer operations teams to scope integrations and write code that unblocks live deals.
• Scope and run pilot programmes against clear success metrics such as call resolution rate, time saved and CSAT, and build the ROI models that prove the value.
• Own end-to-end onboarding: data mapping, workflow configuration, API and webhook integrations, and go-live.
• Act as the bridge between customers and the product and engineering team, surfacing edge cases and shaping the roadmap.

About You

• You have 1 to 4 years of full-stack software engineering experience, ideally at a recognisable high-growth startup or a strong Big Tech environment, and you have shipped real customer-facing products end to end.
• You have a strong foundation in APIs, webhooks and system architecture, and you are comfortable with a modern stack including TypeScript, React, Python and Node.
• You have deployed AI, ML or agentic systems, and you are AI-native in how you work, including comfort managing coding agents and automated loops.
• You have high agency and thrive in ambiguity: you figure things out from scratch without a playbook, and you build rapport with director-level stakeholders with ease.
• One of these backgrounds fits you: a software engineer who moved into a forward deployed or implementation engineering role, a software engineer who founded a company or was an early engineer at a startup, or a software engineer who moved into product.
• Nice to have: exposure to modern infrastructure tooling such as Terraform, and prior founder or early-engineer experience.
• You are based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco, comfortable working onsite five days a week when not travelling, and happy with light domestic travel to customer sites. The company is open to visa transfers such as OPT and H1B.

The team is moving quickly with this hire. If you're interested in being the founding technical deployer bringing agentic AI into live fleet operations and building the function from the ground up, apply now or send your CV directly to will@inventurerecruitment.com.