Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

About the role

Retell AI is using first-principles thinking to reimagine the call center with cutting-edge voice AI, and in this role you will own the end-to-end delivery of AI voice solutions for enterprise clients by embedding directly with their teams. You will act as a critical bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, using exceptional communication to drive adoption and translate customer feedback into actionable product and go-to-market insights. The hire will build production-ready voice AI systems in collaboration with customers like CVS/Aetna and American Airlines, shaping the platform through hands-on prototyping and execution. You will lead the full project lifecycle, from initial discovery through production deployment, while mentoring clients on best practices for LLM prompting and voice AI workflows. Because the company is prioritizing growth in China, this role requires fluency in Mandarin to communicate effectively with partners and drive adoption in that market. You will continuously refine reusable patterns and codify learnings into platform components that accelerate future implementations.

Key facts

What you'll do

Lead end-to-end delivery of projects using Retell's voice agent platform, coordinating prototyping, execution, and productionization while clearly communicating progress and risks to stakeholders.

Become the go-to expert on building voice AI solutions, evangelizing LLM prompting tips and tricks across customer teams and internal partners.

Build full-stack integrations using Python and JavaScript/TypeScript that connect enterprise tools such as CRMs, ERPs, and scheduling systems.

Partner with sales teams to engage clients, gather detailed requirements, prototype compelling demos, and present coherent system designs that align with business goals.

Scope project requirements, resolve blockers in real time, and align cross-functional teams through concise, actionable updates that maintain momentum.

Codify successful patterns and repeated learnings into reusable tools, components, or platform features that improve time-to-value for future engagements.

Translate field feedback from live customer interactions into concrete product enhancements and go-to-market recommendations for the Retell AI platform.

Conduct hands-on technical discovery sessions with enterprise customers to validate use cases and assess feasibility within their existing technology landscapes.

Design and implement robust voice AI workflows that balance automation with quality control and user experience considerations.

Support deployment and monitoring of voice agents in production environments, ensuring reliability, observability, and performance meet enterprise standards.

Collaborate closely with product and engineering teams to prioritize features and improvements based on real-world customer demands and usage data.

Represent Retell AI in client meetings and workshops, maintaining a professional presence while articulating the value of AI-driven contact center solutions.

Document architectures, integrations, and decisions in a clear and maintainable format to enable knowledge transfer and long-term ownership.

Continuously refine personal expertise on voice AI technologies, emerging best practices, and enterprise adoption patterns to deliver high-impact solutions.

Requirements

You have 2+ years of experience in customer-facing technical roles that involve direct engagement with enterprise clients.

You are fluent in both Mandarin and English, with the ability to communicate effectively with enterprise customers and partners in China and the United States.

You are open to occasional travel, including international travel to support customer engagements when project requirements demand it.

You excel at communicating and explaining complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences in a clear, structured manner.

You have a track record of delivering production systems in fast-paced, ambiguous environments where requirements evolve quickly.

You write production-grade code in Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or a similar language, with strong attention to reliability, testing, and maintainability.

You understand LLM-powered systems and their impact on user experience, including prompting strategies, model selection, and performance trade-offs.

You proactively manage risks, drive execution, and maintain momentum under pressure while balancing multiple priorities and deadlines.

You are comfortable working within enterprise constraints such as security, compliance, and integration standards.

You demonstrate ownership and initiative, taking responsibility for outcomes and seeking opportunities to improve processes and tools.

Nice to have

Preferred experience with voice AI, speech recognition, or text-to-speech technologies and understanding of latency and quality trade-offs in real-time systems.

Hands-on experience building integrations with CRMs, ERPs, or other enterprise SaaS platforms commonly used in contact center environments.

Familiarity with Retell AI's platform components, agent architectures, and observability tooling.

Experience working with China-based customers or partners, including cultural context and business practices in the region.

Background in customer success, professional services, or solution engineering within enterprise software or AI-driven products.

Practical notes

Hours: Full-time (standard work week applies).

Travel: Open to occasional travel, including international travel to support customer engagements when needed.

Visa: Retell AI is open to sponsoring work authorization for qualified candidates, including H1B/H-1B, TN, L-1, E-3, F-1 (OPT/CPT), and O-1 visas.