Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California, +2 more states.

📋 Description

• Lead customer interactions and engagements.

• Conduct technical discovery workshops alongside customer architects, data leaders, and AI teams to map data sources, define MCP Workspace scopes, and determine agent tooling requirements.

• Take ownership of the scoping process for AI deployments, establishing clear acceptance criteria for agent accuracy, data coverage, and governance.

• Convert intricate AI and data concepts into executive-ready architecture proposals, justifying trade-offs to CxO-level stakeholders.

• Design end-to-end AI data connectivity architectures.

• Create solutions that span over 350 sources for Connect AI, which includes MCP server configuration, semantic context modeling, and governance integration.

• Architect agent orchestration utilizing Connect AI Toolkits, defining access to data, schemas, and actions for each agent in production.

• Develop governed access models for AI agents, including RBAC, OAuth 2.1, semantic scoping, and audit-trail requirements.

• Establish AI best practices that leverage agents, skills, and LLMs to ensure successful customer outcomes.

• Influence the development of the Connect AI platform through practical deployments.

• Identify architectural and product deficiencies during live enterprise engagements and collaborate with Product and Engineering to devise scalable solutions.

• Produce technical specifications and implementation recommendations for enhancements to Connect AI, covering both features and core architectural improvements.

• Create reusable reference architectures, deployment patterns, and MCP blueprints that minimize implementation friction and expedite future customer deployments.

• Convert recurring customer deployment issues into scalable platform capabilities and architectural standards.

• Mentor Forward Deployed Engineers on AI integration patterns, semantic data modeling, and customer-facing technical delivery.

• Act as the primary technical escalation point for customer engagements.

• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success on establishing architectural standards.

• Document field patterns into shared assets, playbooks, templates, and sample agents that can be utilized by the broader team (SE, CS, support, etc.).

⛳️ Requirements

• 7+ years of experience as a Solutions Architect, Principal SE, Forward Deployed Engineer, or Technical Lead within a data platform, AI, or enterprise SaaS environment.

• Proven track record of building and deploying production AI applications rather than just prototypes.

• Experience working on a SaaS Platform in an Architect role or a closely related position.

• Demonstrated customer-facing experience with senior technical buyers and architecture review boards.

• Strong understanding of AI/ML concepts, including LLM capabilities, agentic architectures, RAG patterns, prompt engineering, and their respective applications.

• Ability to define multi-tenant architectural patterns and security objectives.

• Hands-on experience with enterprise data integration, including SQL, ETL/CDC pipelines, API design, ODBC/JDBC, and multi-source connectivity.

• Capability to design governed data access frameworks for AI agents, including RBAC, OAuth 2.1, semantic scoping, and audit-trail requirements.

• Familiarity with modern data stacks (Snowflake, Databricks, Salesforce) and cloud-native deployment methodologies.

• Proficient in translating complex AI and data concepts into executive-level architecture proposals.

• High degree of agency; comfortable serving as the senior technical representative in customer discussions.

• Experience mentoring junior engineers without necessitating direct reporting relationships.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans with fully covered insurance premiums by the company.

• Health Savings Account with company contributions to assist in managing rising health costs.

• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care FSA options.

• Generous leave policy including 20 days of PTO and 11 paid holidays.

• 401k plan featuring a 100% company match on contributions up to 6%.

• A remote-friendly, high-trust culture that promotes collaboration, nurtures curiosity, and fosters innovation.

• Opportunity to work closely with your manager to identify professional development and learning paths that align with your career aspirations.