Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

About the role

The owns the critical responsibility of extending the company's foundational operating system for private fund management into tangible, production-ready solutions for the market. You will serve as the most senior client-facing technical leader within the Forward Deployed Engineering organization, acting as the primary bridge between complex client needs and the engineering capabilities of the platform. Your core mission involves partnering with the largest private funds to architect sophisticated applications, integrating production AI, forecasting, optimization, decision support, and formalized workflow logic directly into their operations. This is an active engagement role where you must translate ambiguous, high-stakes problems into structured, executable proposals that drive real value. You will own the entire client journey, managing relationships from the initial discovery phase through full production adoption and beyond. A central part of this position is building the Forward Deployed Engineering practice itself, establishing a repeatable solutioning and scoping methodology that sets the standard for future work. The role offers competitive base compensation, meaningful equity, and a tiered performance bonus structure where top performers can earn a significant variable component, recognizing the impact of delivering at the highest level.

Key facts

What you'll do

Lead early-stage discovery sessions with senior stakeholders in private markets to uncover latent needs and define strategic technical initiatives.

Convert unclear and sometimes conflicting requirements from fund managers into well-defined, scoped plans that encompass AI, automation, and platform integration strategies.

Own the entire client engagement lifecycle, managing relationships from initial discovery through full production adoption to ensure satisfaction and retention.

Architect production-grade AI systems designed for real-world finance, specifically addressing challenges related to messy data, agentic workflows, evaluations, simulation, and high-assurance decision support.

Collaborate closely with the internal engineering organization to translate client requirements into robust technical designs and implementation plans.

Support the sales process by providing technical credibility during pre-sales discussions, helping to de-risk complex opportunities and convert them into formal engagements.

Build and evolve the Forward Deployed Engineering practice by creating reusable methodologies, mentoring engineers, guiding new hires, and identifying opportunities to turn bespoke customer work into core product features.

Partner with cross-functional engineering teams to ensure complex client logic evolves into stable, scalable platform capabilities that benefit the entire product.

Lead high-visibility client engagements where executives demand rapid, reliable automation, serving as the primary technical authority and decision-maker.

Define and enforce technical standards and a quality bar for the practice, ensuring all deliverables meet the highest levels of professionalism and reliability.

Drive the implementation of evaluation frameworks and agentic workflow management systems to ensure deployed solutions perform as expected in production environments.

Champion the adoption of formalized workflow logic and optimization techniques that streamline fund management operations and enhance decision-making processes.

Act as a subject matter expert on AI productionization, providing guidance on best practices for deploying models into secure and regulated financial settings.

Act as an external and internal advocate for the client, balancing their strategic objectives with the technical constraints and opportunities of the platform.

Requirements

You possess extensive customer-facing technical experience, with a proven ability to lead ambiguous initiatives from discovery to delivery without needing constant direction.

Your background must include strong expertise in Python, SQL, system design, and analytical application architecture, demonstrating mastery of core engineering fundamentals.

You have direct, hands-on experience deploying AI systems into production environments, managing complex agentic workflows, and implementing robust evaluation frameworks.

You demonstrate executive presence in conversations with senior, non-technical audiences, communicating clearly and persuading with data and logic.

You listen actively, ask incisive questions, build trust rapidly with stakeholders, and provide constructive challenge when necessary to ensure project success.

You can translate vague, high-level problems into credible technical plans and author comprehensive proposals from scratch, detailing scope, risk, and value.

Your communication is clear and precise, whether writing detailed documentation, creating technical specifications, or managing difficult client scenarios with professionalism.

You have a documented history of delivering end-to-end complex engagements, successfully managing both technical execution and client-facing streams simultaneously under pressure.

You are driven by outcomes, possessing a competitive, high-ownership mindset where you evaluate the return on investment of your work, not merely the completion of tasks.

Nice to have

There are no additional bonus qualifications specified beyond the core requirements.

Practical notes

This role is based in the New York City office and requires approximately 25 percent travel for client engagements.

There are no specified deadlines for application or visa sponsorship details provided in the source material.