Subscribe
David Joseph & Company

Customer Engineer, Agent Builder

$175K - $230K San Francisco, CA, US Mid Posted July 16, 2026

Role Description

San Francisco, CA (also NY / Toronto / London) · On-site (5 days) · Full-time

Compensation: $175,000–$230,000 + competitive equity

About the Company

A category-leading conversational AI platform that helps major enterprises deploy AI agents across voice, chat, email, SMS, and every other customer channel. Series D+ with strong enterprise traction and marquee customers across consumer and financial services. In-office culture built around speed, ownership, and craft.

Founded 2023 · 201–500 people · Industry: Conversational AI / Consumer Tech

The Role

Own end-to-end execution of AI agent builds for enterprise customers, from initial scoping through launch and iteration. This is a highly technical delivery role: you'll write and configure key components, validate integrations, and interface directly with senior technical stakeholders on the customer side. The split between technical build and customer-facing work is dynamic — generally close to 50/50 or 60/40 technical-to-customer-facing — and sits exclusively on the post-sales side.

What you'll be doing

  • End-to-end execution of AI agent builds for enterprise customers, from scoping through launch and iteration
  • Write and maintain key agent-building artifacts and configure agent behavior for quality, reliability, and business outcomes
  • Configure and validate guardrails for safe, compliant, predictable agent performance
  • Set up, test, and validate customer integrations (ticketing systems and comparable), building any tools or workflows needed
  • Interface directly with senior technical stakeholders at customers to define success criteria and drive delivery against timelines
  • Partner closely with Agent PMs, Engineering, Design, and GTM teams to deliver consistent, repeatable agent builds

Tech stack: Python (hard requirement), APIs / integrations; LLM/agent tooling (prompting, evaluation, guardrails, workflow design)

Requirements

  • 3-5 years technical customer-facing (5-7 for Toronto)
  • Strong Python proficiency (hard requirement)
  • API integration experience end to end
  • SF / NY / Toronto / London, 5 days in-office

Green Flags

  • Software engineering background with a genuine, demonstrated pull toward customer-facing work
  • Started in software engineering or forward-deployed engineering, then pivoted toward customer-facing technical delivery
  • Strong quantitative or Computer Science degree from a well-regarded program
  • Comfortable owning both the technical build and the customer relationship without needing the two responsibilities split apart
  • Post-sales orientation and interest, since this role sits exclusively on the post-sales side

Red Flags

  • Background as an IT manager or in IT operations without transferable hands-on technical build experience
  • Interested only in pre-sales work; this role's lane is exclusively post-sales
  • Career built entirely in a single large enterprise without independent technical delivery signal

Why Join

  • Category leader in conversational AI with strong enterprise traction across consumer and financial services
  • Top-tier venture backing and a Series D+ balance sheet
  • Own the full lifecycle of enterprise AI agent builds — technical build and customer relationship together, not split into two half-roles

Details

  • Location: San Francisco, CA (also NY / Toronto / London)
  • Work policy: On-site, 5 days in-office
  • Compensation: $175,000–$230,000 + equity
  • Visa sponsorship: H-1B
  • Employment type: Full-time

About Forward Deployed Engineering

Forward Deployed Engineers are embedded directly with customers to build custom solutions, integrate products into existing infrastructure, and bridge the gap between product engineering and customer success. The role combines deep technical skills with the ability to operate in client environments and translate business requirements into working software.

Originally pioneered by Palantir, the FDE model has spread across AI, enterprise SaaS, and cloud infrastructure companies. FDEs write production code, architect integrations, train customer teams, and feed product insights back to the core engineering organization. At companies like OpenAI, Salesforce, and Databricks, FDE teams are treated as elite engineering units that can ship custom solutions in days rather than quarters.

Typical FDE stack: Python, TypeScript, SQL, REST/GraphQL APIs, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure), and increasingly LLM APIs and AI orchestration frameworks. Strong communication and the ability to context-switch between technical and business conversations are as important as coding ability.

Get the FDE Pulse Brief

Weekly market intelligence for Forward Deployed Engineers. Job trends, salary data, and who's hiring. Free.