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Forward Deployed Software Engineer

San Francisco, CA

Posted: 04/23/2026 Industry: Engineering Job Number: 3585180 Pay Rate: 150000/year - 220000/year

Job Description


Forward Deployed Engineer (Customer-Facing / Solutions Engineering)

Location: Onsite – San Francisco, CA

Compensation: $150,000 – $220,000 base + significant equity

Why This Opportunity Stands Out
  • Join a high-growth, venture-backed technology company building a cutting-edge platform at the intersection of AI and software development
  • Work directly with founders and senior engineering leadership to shape product direction
  • Be part of a small, high-caliber team where your impact is immediate and visible
  • Competitive compensation package including meaningful equity upside

The Role

We’re hiring a customer-facing engineer who blends strong technical depth with excellent communication skills. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and go-to-market, helping customers successfully deploy and adopt a highly technical platform in complex environments.

You’ll work closely with customers to understand their needs, guide implementations, and ensure successful outcomes—while also influencing internal product decisions based on real-world use cases.

What You’ll Do
  • Partner with internal commercial teams to lead technical discovery conversations with prospective and existing customers
  • Design and execute proof-of-concepts and pilot programs in complex technical environments
  • Act as the primary technical point of contact during implementation and deployment
  • Troubleshoot issues across infrastructure, integrations, and application layers
  • Translate customer feedback into actionable insights for product and engineering teams
  • Build lightweight integrations, scripts, or reference architectures to accelerate adoption
  • Support customers through security, compliance, and technical validation processes

What We’re Looking For
  • 2–5 years of experience in software engineering, solutions engineering, or similar technical roles
  • Background working in customer-facing technical environments (Solutions Engineer, Solutions Architect, Forward Deployed Engineer, etc.)
  • Strong programming skills in at least one language (e.g., Python, Java, TypeScript)
  • Experience with cloud infrastructure and modern tooling (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, AWS/GCP/Azure)
  • Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, startup environment with high ownership

Nice to Have
  • Experience at a developer-focused or API-driven company
  • Exposure to infrastructure, distributed systems, or backend platforms
  • Prior experience working closely with enterprise customers
  • Strong academic background in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

What Success Looks Like
  • Customers successfully deploy and expand usage of the platform
  • You become a trusted technical advisor to both customers and internal teams
  • Feedback from your work directly influences product roadmap and direction
  • You help bridge the gap between technical product capabilities and real-world applications

Additional Details
  • Full-time, onsite role (5 days/week)
  • Collaborative, in-person team environment
  • Relocation support available for the right candidate

Who is Rainier Recruiting

Rainier Recruiting is a boutique, award winning national staffing agency and executive search firm. Using an approach that “treats every candidate like an executive search”, we offer positions in contract-to-hire, Full-Time, and executive search. Named the #1 Best Workplace in Washington State in 2022, recognized as a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing firm, and identified as a top recruitment firm by multiple business journals, Rainier Recruiting is fast becoming a respected company. We are no longer the “best recruiters you have never heard of”. Rainier Recruiting is also proud to share our clients have a 93% repeat business rate. Rainier Recruiting is an equal opportunity employer and service provider and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation or belief, or any other protected class. We are committed to the principles of Equal Opportunity Employment and are dedicated to making employment decisions based on merit and value, for ourselves, our client companies, and for the candidates we represent. We engage in socially conscious business practices and believe that diverse, equitable, inclusive, and non-biased talent and recruitment processes are foundational to the success of every organization that we partner with.

Meet Your Recruiter

Joely Downing
Senior Recruiter

Joely spent most of her career in the hotel business and started recruiting in the Hospitality field before coming to Rainier Recruiting.  Outside of work, Joely enjoys time with family and friends and traveling. Confident she can find the best candidates from anywhere, she is hoping to move her desk permanently to Mexico sooner than later.    

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About San Francisco, CA

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