Forward Deployed Engineer

Redpanda Data

Forward Deployed Engineer building production AI agents, integrations, and data pipelines for Redpanda’s enterprise customers. Embedded onsite during live customer engagements and owning technical delivery through handoff.

Posted 8/20/2026full-timeNew York City • New York • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $194,400 - $228,800 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in building production-quality agents and data pipelines, with a strong focus on backend systems and customer integration. Proven ability to communicate effectively with engineering teams and manage technical deliverables in dynamic environments.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Production Software Engineering ExperienceBuilding Agents and Integrating Complex SystemsCustomer-Facing Communication SkillsExperience in Pre-IPO B2B SaaSBackground in Streaming or Real-Time Data Systems

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Backend SystemsData PipelinesAPIsAgent SystemsLLM APIsSoftware ShippingCodebase IntegrationTechnical Deliverables ManagementProduction Deployment

Soft Skills

Customer CommunicationCollaborationTraining and Mentoring

Tools & Technologies

RedpandaKafkaFlink

Industry Keywords

B2B SaaSRegulated IndustriesAir-Gapped Environments

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Kafka

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Build production-quality agents, integrations, and data pipelines on Redpanda ADP inside customer environments and codebases
Rapidly understand unfamiliar codebases, data environments, and constraints
Own technical deliverables from design through production deployment and clean handoff
Collaborate daily with customer engineering teams as Redpanda's technical representative
Integrate solutions with customers' existing systems and document maintainable implementations
Train customer teams and drive independence after handoff
Identify recurring engagement patterns and feed productization opportunities back to Product and Engineering
Report to the Head of FDE
Travel onsite 30–50% during active engagements

Requirements

What you’ll need

Production software engineering experience with backend systems, data pipelines, APIs, or agent systems
Experience building agents, working with LLM APIs, or integrating complex systems in production
Ability to work in unfamiliar codebases, technology stacks, and constrained environments
Customer-facing communication skills with engineering leads, architects, and individual contributors
Experience shipping software at a customer site or in a deployment context
Experience working at a pre-IPO B2B SaaS company in the past 5 years
Experience working embedded within a customer or external organization's codebase
Authorized to work in the US without visa sponsorship
Willingness to travel 30–50% during active engagements
Bonus: experience with forward-deployed or customer-embedded engineering models
Bonus: background in streaming or real-time data systems such as Kafka, Flink, or Redpanda
Bonus: experience in regulated industries or air-gapped environments
Bonus: experience as the first or only technical person in a customer engagement

Benefits

Comp & perks

Remote-first work arrangement
Latest AI tools and budget to use them
Team members around the globe
Fast-moving, diverse, people-first organization
Culture based on trust, transparency, communication, and kindness