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Salary: USD 200,000 - 260,000 / annual
ConductorAI is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer Lead to join their team in Washington, DC. This role combines hands-on software engineering with customer-facing technical leadership, requiring someone who thrives at the intersection of product development and mission-critical deployments.
You will lead a small, growing team of Forward Deployed Engineers while remaining a hands-on engineer yourself. Your responsibilities include traveling to customer environments (up to 50% domestically and OCONUS) to configure, optimize, and support ConductorAI's AI-powered software. You'll write production-quality code in Python and TypeScript, work directly with end users to gather feedback, debug system issues, and translate customer insights into product requirements.
Key responsibilities include:
- Onsite customer support: configure workflows, troubleshoot systems, and customize solutions for specific use cases
- Software development: write and maintain production code within a small engineering team
- Customer collaboration: gather feedback, understand workflows, and translate needs into actionable product requirements
- System reliability: debug and improve performance and usability based on real-world usage
- Technical demonstrations: deliver compelling demos to new and existing customers
- Team leadership: help define FDE best practices and lead a growing team of engineers
- Strategic contribution: shape company culture, processes, and product direction as an early team member
You should be comfortable with ambiguity, have a bias for action, and measure your work by impact. Strong communication skills are essential—you'll explain complex technical concepts to audiences with varying levels of technical fluency.
Required qualifications include US citizenship (ITAR/EAR compliance), active DoD TS or TS/SCI clearance at hire, 3+ years of professional software engineering or forward deployed engineering experience, proficiency in Python and TypeScript, and experience working directly with end users in technical capacities. Background in defense, intelligence, or national security environments is required. Experience with LLMs and modern AI application techniques is expected.
Desired qualifications include early-stage startup experience, system design or full-stack development background, and existing relationships with DoD or civil agency stakeholders.
