Forward Deployed AI Engineer
Build and own production AI systems (voice agents, RAG pipelines, LLM orchestration) while mentoring engineers and advising C-level clients in a hybrid San Diego role.
- Compensation
- $165K–$225K / yr
- Location
- San Diego, California, United States
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- 1+ years
- Category
- Ai engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 5-10 years as a Forward Deployed Engineer or customer-facing software engineer
- Experience designing and building client-facing AI systems in production
- Strong experience with agentic workflows, RAG pipelines, document processing, automation, and LLM orchestration
- Strong software engineering skills and experience building end-to-end production systems
- At least 1 year of experience formally mentoring or managing engineers
- Experience building voice agents tied to measurable business outcomes
- Production cloud deployment experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a STEM field
- Strong communication and executive-level client engagement skills
- High agency, low ego, and comfort working in ambiguous environments
Full description
Job Title: Staff Forward Deployed AI Engineer
Company: Cadre AI
Location: San Diego, CA
Work Arrangement: Flexible hybrid
Salary: $165,000 - $225,000
Employment: Full-time
Equity: Competitive equity
Job Description
Cadre AI is looking for a Staff Forward Deployed AI Engineer to serve as the technical backbone of its San Diego engineering team. This is a hybrid role for an engineer who can build complex production AI systems while confidently working with executive-level clients and mentoring other engineers.
Responsibilities
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Build and own end-to-end production AI systems across a diverse client portfolio, including voice agents, RAG pipelines, LLM orchestration, Salesforce integrations, and automation.
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Join client calls with solutions leaders and translate complex technical solutions for C-level stakeholders.
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Lead technical discussions and keep client engagements on track under pressure.
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Mentor and coach existing Forward Deployed Engineers.
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Review engineering work and help develop the team’s technical and client-facing capabilities.
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Partner with the Head of Engineering on architecture, engineering processes, and technical standards.
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Triage and delegate technical builds across the team.
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Take ownership of the most complex client problems and drive solutions from design through production.
Requirements
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5-10 years of experience as a Forward Deployed Engineer or customer-facing software engineer.
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Experience designing and building client-facing AI systems in production.
-
Strong experience with agentic workflows, RAG pipelines, document processing, automation, and LLM orchestration.
-
Strong software engineering skills and experience building end-to-end production systems.
-
At least 1 year of experience formally mentoring or managing engineers.
-
Experience building voice agents tied to measurable business outcomes.
-
Production cloud deployment experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure.