Jobs

Forward Deployed Engineer

The Role

AI is moving entire categories of previously unsolvable problems from meat space to cyberspace. Marketing challenges that used to live in the realm of human judgment—understanding what resonates, why campaigns work, how competitors position themselves—can now be addressed with software development practices.

The traditional consulting model inserts four layers of suits between the engineer who builds the solution and the customer who needs it. Requirements get filtered through account managers, translated by project managers, interpreted by analysts, and finally handed to developers who've never seen the actual problem. The result: solutions that technically meet spec but miss the point entirely.

Forward Deployed Engineers sit alongside customers. They see the problem firsthand. They build the solution directly. Better quality. Faster delivery. Lower cost. No telephone game.

Growth at Alephic

We hire based on demonstrated capability, not years of experience. We've seen new graduates outperform industry veterans, and we've seen 20-year experts bring irreplaceable depth. What matters is whether you can do the work.

If you're early in your career, you'll get scaffolding—smaller scope initially, mentorship, paired engagements with senior FDEs. If you're deep in your career, you'll get autonomy and the hardest problems we have. Both paths lead to the same place: expanding scope based on demonstrated impact.

We don't do L1 through L5. We don't promote people on a schedule or change titles to signal progress. The greater your contributions, the greater your responsibility, autonomy, and compensation. Some people go deep on a single client, becoming indispensable to a Fortune 100's AI transformation. Others go wide, shaping methodology across engagements. Both are valued.

Your growth here looks like: harder problems, bigger clients, more ambiguous challenges, increased ownership of outcomes. Not a new suffix on your LinkedIn title.

What You'll Do

  • Build custom AI systems with Fortune 100 clients—content intelligence platforms, competitive analysis engines, automated content generation pipelines
  • Sit with customers to understand their actual problems, not the sanitized version that survives six meetings
  • Ship working software, not slide decks and implementation plans
  • Work with our platform team's tools and components, contributing improvements back when you find gaps
  • Transfer knowledge to client teams so they can extend what you've built

Operating Environment

We work at the edge of possibility, where impossible problems become merely hard, hard problems become easy, and easy problems become trivial. This environment demands intellectual curiosity, comfort with uncertainty, and the drive to make things that work.

Essential Traits

Required for all Forward Deployed Engineers. You need all of these.

Curiosity

Driven to understand how systems work at a deep level. Excited by the unknown rather than intimidated by it.

Systems Thinking

Ability to see both forest and trees. Can break down complex problems into components while understanding how they interact.

Software Fluency

Understands how software works and how it shapes what's possible, even if you're not writing code daily.

AI Enthusiasm

Genuinely excited about AI's transformative potential while maintaining pragmatic expectations about current capabilities.

Domain Expertise

You need one or more of these areas of expertise.

Software Development

Builds robust, maintainable solutions. Can transform concepts into working systems. Thinks about code as a craft.

  • Builds robust, maintainable solutions
  • Can transform concepts into working systems
  • Thinks about code as a craft

Marketing

Understands brand, audience, and message dynamics. Strategic about content and positioning.

  • Understands brand, audience, and message dynamics
  • Strategic about content and positioning
  • Sees marketing as system, not just creative output

Operations

Orchestrates complex initiatives across teams and timelines. Ensures reliable execution at scale.

  • Orchestrates complex initiatives across teams and timelines
  • Makes things run smoothly
  • Ensures reliable execution at scale

Business Systems

Analyzes organizational dynamics and workflows. Identifies leverage points.

  • Analyzes organizational dynamics and workflows
  • Identifies leverage points
  • Designs processes that scale

Analytics

Derives insights from complex data. Translates numbers into narratives.

  • Derives insights from complex data
  • Translates numbers into narratives
  • Builds dashboards and models that drive decisions

Working Principles

These are the principles that guide our approach to work and collaboration.

Don't Be Full of Shit

We cut through AI hype with practical solutions.

  • We're honest about capabilities and limitations
  • We deliver real value, not buzzwords

Talk With AI First

AI is our first stop for ideas, questions, and exploration.

  • Using AI is as natural as breathing oxygen—no explanation needed
  • We focus on outcomes, not the tools we used to get there

Learn Through Tinkering

We believe in hands-on exploration.

  • We prototype rapidly and iterate
  • We share knowledge generously

Lead with Optimism

We see challenges as puzzles to solve.

  • We believe in expanding possibilities
  • We maintain perspective while pushing boundaries

Assume Rationality

We seek to understand before proposing solutions.

  • We respect the context that shapes decisions
  • We build on existing knowledge

What We Offer

Real Impact

Work directly with some of the world's leading organizations on problems that matter.

Intellectual Growth

Tackle challenges at the frontier of what's possible with AI.

Practical Innovation

Bridge the gap between AI theory and real-world implementation.

Collaborative Culture

Join a high-trust environment where good ideas win regardless of source.

How to Apply

Send us an email that addresses these prompts:

  1. Your story and what excites you about Alephic
  2. Examples of tackling complex, ambiguous problems
  3. Your perspective on how AI is changing your domain

Interested in this role?

Send us a note about why you're interested and what you'd bring to the role.