Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

About Us

At Union, we are solving one of the hardest challenges in AI infrastructure today: enabling high-velocity iteration while maintaining seamless production-readiness for AI workloads at scale. Flyte, the open-source project we steward, is the emerging standard for modern data and AI orchestration, with numerous leading technology organizations - like LinkedIn, Spotify, and Gojek - running millions of mission-critical workloads on the platform. We have a deep bench of infrastructure veterans from companies in the Big Three and beyond and a technical founding team who originally created Flyte while at Lyft.

The Opportunity

Join a world-class team delivering cutting-edge AI solutions at scale. As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will combine strong technical expertise with customer advisory skills to define, implement, and operationalize AI/ML applications, bridging the gap between research and production. You’ll engage strategically with clients, understanding complex business problems and architecting sophisticated solutions that integrate next-generation AI workflows such as Flyte. This hands-on role offers ownership of high-impact, strategic projects, end-to-end, solving real-world challenges while contributing insights back to the broader AI product strategy.

In This Role, You Will:

• Work directly with prospects and customers to review their AI/ML applications and provide guidance, including both architectural and hands on programming.
• Develop and deploy cutting-edge AI/ML solutions, including GenAI workflows, LLMs, RAG, multi-agent systems, and fine-tuning pipelines.
• Drive adoption of Union by leveraging hands-on experience in building demonstrable use cases, troubleshooting workflows, and showcasing platform value to prospective customers.
• Own the technical success of trials and production deployments by delivering on prospects’ success criteria and connecting the dots between business value and technical outcomes.
• Engage at all levels of technical stakeholders to drive technical debates and design choices with mid-market and enterprise customers.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor, translating complex AI concepts into actionable solutions and influencing both product and customer strategy.
• Contribute to technical qualification of opportunities by pairing customer needs to key features and unique selling propositions.
• Represent the product at field events such as conferences, seminars, and workshops.
• Actively support Union users with onboarding, workflow implementation, debugging problems, and operational best practices.
• Dive deep into competitive and complementary technologies to better position Union during critical negotiations.
• Influence internal product roadmap and strategy by sharing field learnings and contributing to cross-functional initiatives.
• You will be expected to be in-office (Seattle/Bellevue).
  
  

About You

• 5 years of experience in a pre-sales or deployment-focused engineering role for a deeply technical product, ideally in AI, ML, or infrastructure. Early-stage startup experience is highly desirable.
• Strong engineering foundation, preferably in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Software Engineering, or Machine Learning. Advanced degrees are a plus.
• Hands-on experience with data processing, machine learning systems, MLOps, and production-grade AI pipelines, including frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, HuggingFace, LangChain, DSPy, scikit-learn, and related tooling.
• Proficiency in coding and scripting (Python, TypeScript, Java, Bash, etc.).
• Working knowledge of distributed systems, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation), containers (Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Comfortable in client-facing roles, translating technical concepts into actionable solutions and providing thought leadership.
• Strong problem-solving skills, able to own complex technical projects end-to-end, and thrive in high-volume, ambiguous environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites and conferences as needed (Expect 25% travel).
  
  

Benefits & Belonging

At Union.ai we know that employees who feel their best can build amazing things and we are proud to offer best in class benefits that will continually evolve and grow as the needs of our employees do. Benefits may vary based on country

• Excellent medical - We pay 100% of your premiums and 90% for your dependents
• Generous dental and vision plans- We pay 90% of the premiums for you and your dependents
• Meaningful equity in the form of options – all employees are owners here
• Unlimited time off 12 company holidays
• 401K match - Union.ai matches 100% of contributions up to the first 3%, and 50% up to 5%
• 16 weeks paid parental leave for primary and secondary caregivers
• Flexible work schedule (some restrictions apply)
• For in office employees: Lunch provided onsite and well stocked kitchen with snacks and drinks.
  
  

We believe that our differences are what bring us together to achieve truly special outcomes. We strive to be inclusive and focus on building teams that embody that quality too. Union.ai is an equal-opportunity employer and we encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn’t align exactly with our job description.

Compensation Range: $190K - $250K