Founding Forward-Deployed EngineerOn-site · Engineering, Product & Tech · Full time San Francisco, California, United StatesDescriptionOur client is a stealth, seed-stage startup building an AI-powered wearable platform for industrial field technicians - running a real-time computer-vision and agentic AI system directly on smart-glasses hardware, live today with major data-center, energy, and industrial customers across multiple countries. Backed by a $5M seed round and founded by researchers from Harvard/NASA (computer vision, published at NeurIPS and ICCV) and MIT (machine learning, ex-quant researcher).The bet: computer vision and agentic vision-language models (VLMs) grounded in real integrations with legacy enterprise systems (ServiceNow, SAP, Salesforce) - not another LLM wrapper. The industrial data this generates is also laying the groundwork for robotics automation down the line.As Founding Forward-Deployed Engineer, you'll embed with large industrial customers (50,000+ employee organizations) and bring the product live on the factory floor - real software engineering plus the last-layer integrations into whatever internal systems the customer runs, not a non-coding "deployment strategist" role.What you'll doBuild API/webhook/ETL integrations into customer enterprise systems (ERP, CMMS, ServiceNow, SAP, ticketing, knowledge bases)Build agentic/RAG features tailored to each deployment, not just configure a vendor platformTurn ambiguous field requirements into shipped product, working directly with customers on-siteLocation & cultureBased on-site in the SF Bay Area between trips, with roughly 25% domestic travel to customer sites. The founding team lives and works together for the first several months in a shared house before moving to a standard office — expect an intense, in-person, roughly 9-9-6 pace. Hours flex for exceptional, senior talent; the priority is getting the right person, not saving on salary.RequirementsEssential1–5 years hands-on FDE/solutions/implementation engineering shipping integrations and codeIntegration breadth: API/webhook/ETL connecting enterprise systems (ERP, CMMS, ServiceNow, SAP, ticketing, KBs)Has personally built agentic/RAG features — vendor-platform configuration alone isn't enoughCustomer-facing, energized by industrial/field customersWilling to travel domestically ~25%Particularly valuableIndustrial/legacy-enterprise deployment backgroundTrack record converting pilots/POCs into production at large enterprisesBenefitsCompensation & benefitsBase: $160K–$245KEquity: 0.25%–0.75%Visa sponsorship available (O-1, TN, E-3, H-1B1, H-1B transfer, F-1 OPT/STEM OPT)How to apply: resume plus a short example of an integration you shipped into a customer's existing systems.
Founding Forward-Deployed Engineer
On-site · Engineering, Product & Tech · Full time San Francisco, California, United States
Description
Our client is a stealth, seed-stage startup building an AI-powered wearable platform for industrial field technicians - running a real-time computer-vision and agentic AI system directly on smart-glasses hardware, live today with major data-center, energy, and industrial customers across multiple countries. Backed by a $5M seed round and founded by researchers from Harvard/NASA (computer vision, published at NeurIPS and ICCV) and MIT (machine learning, ex-quant researcher).
The bet: computer vision and agentic vision-language models (VLMs) grounded in real integrations with legacy enterprise systems (ServiceNow, SAP, Salesforce) - not another LLM wrapper. The industrial data this generates is also laying the groundwork for robotics automation down the line.
As Founding Forward-Deployed Engineer, you'll embed with large industrial customers (50,000+ employee organizations) and bring the product live on the factory floor - real software engineering plus the last-layer integrations into whatever internal systems the customer runs, not a non-coding "deployment strategist" role.
What you'll do
- Build API/webhook/ETL integrations into customer enterprise systems (ERP, CMMS, ServiceNow, SAP, ticketing, knowledge bases)
- Build agentic/RAG features tailored to each deployment, not just configure a vendor platform
- Turn ambiguous field requirements into shipped product, working directly with customers on-site
Location & culture
Based on-site in the SF Bay Area between trips, with roughly 25% domestic travel to customer sites. The founding team lives and works together for the first several months in a shared house before moving to a standard office — expect an intense, in-person, roughly 9-9-6 pace. Hours flex for exceptional, senior talent; the priority is getting the right person, not saving on salary.
Requirements
Essential
- 1–5 years hands-on FDE/solutions/implementation engineering shipping integrations and code
- Integration breadth: API/webhook/ETL connecting enterprise systems (ERP, CMMS, ServiceNow, SAP, ticketing, KBs)
- Has personally built agentic/RAG features — vendor-platform configuration alone isn't enough
- Customer-facing, energized by industrial/field customers
- Willing to travel domestically ~25%
Particularly valuable
- Industrial/legacy-enterprise deployment background
- Track record converting pilots/POCs into production at large enterprises
Benefits
Compensation & benefits
- Base: $160K–$245K
- Equity: 0.25%–0.75%
- Visa sponsorship available (O-1, TN, E-3, H-1B1, H-1B transfer, F-1 OPT/STEM OPT)
How to apply: resume plus a short example of an integration you shipped into a customer's existing systems.
Sales & Engineering professionals: unlock your potential with roles perfect for you.The AI hiring market is evolving fast, and the right opportunity can take your career to the next level.At EQL Tech, we connect the top 1% of Sales, GTM & Engineering talent with the most ambitious and innovative AI-native early-stage startups and rapidly scaling tech powerhouses.Your next step starts here. Let’s make it count.
Sales & Engineering professionals: unlock your potential with roles perfect for you.
The AI hiring market is evolving fast, and the right opportunity can take your career to the next level.
At EQL Tech, we connect the top 1% of Sales, GTM & Engineering talent with the most ambitious and innovative AI-native early-stage startups and rapidly scaling tech powerhouses.
Your next step starts here. Let’s make it count.
