> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/1862304-forward-deployed-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1862304-forward-deployed-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Forward Deployed Engineer - **Company:** POINT BLANK METAL WORKS, LLC - **Location:** Minneapolis, MN, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** JavaScript (Programming Language), Artificial Intelligence, Software Debugging, Python (Programming Language), TypeScript, Large Language Models, Information Technology - **Published:** July 31, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=ccc09f6d902932d8 ## About the Role * Typically 7+ years building and shipping software, including real time as a technical leader who executives actually trusted * A track record of owning production systems end-to-end, from first commit through live operation * You have shipped LLM-powered systems to production: agents, retrieval, evals, and the judgment to know when each is the wrong tool * Strong hands-on skills in Python and TypeScript or JavaScript, and comfort picking up whatever the client's stack demands * You have built or maintained eval frameworks that showed whether a system actually worked * You can hold your own with a CTO in the morning and be in the codebase in the afternoon * At home with ambiguity and a small team: you would rather figure it out than wait for a playbook * A straightforward communicator who explains hard technical calls in plain language * Low ego, high cooperation: you balance competing priorities with integrity and make the people around you better * You have been a founder, CTO, or first engineer building a product or startup and know what it costs to get something live. * Bonus: depth in healthcare or private equity, where much of our current work lives ## Description Enterprises come to Blank Metal to get production AI live. That work is led by senior people who can sit across from a client's executives, diagnose the real problem, and then go build the thing that fixes it. As a Forward Deployed Engineer you'll turn advisory conversations into shipped software, closing the gap between a promising demo and a system that runs in production, where most enterprise AI initiatives stall. You embed with a client, earn trust at the executive level, and stay hands-on from the first scoping session through the live deployment. You are equal parts technical leader and trusted advisor: you shape what gets built, you build it with a lean team of AI engineers, and you own whether it actually works in production. The playbook for this practice is still being written, and you will write a lot of it: how we embed, how we prove value, and what we bring back from each engagement. Forward deployed means what it says. Expect roughly 25 to 40% travel to client sites, heavier during kickoffs and go-lives. The rest of the time you work wherever you work best., * Partner with client executives to find the highest-value AI opportunity, then frame it in the client's own language * Lead scoping and proof of concept work that de-risks the build before a full engagement starts * Shape the technical approach and scope alongside our growth team; they own the close, you make sure what's promised is what can actually be built Build it for real * Deploy alongside a lean team of AI engineers and own the architecture, the hard calls, and the code that ships * Deliver the concrete artifacts clients run in production: MCP servers, sub-agents, agent skills, and the pipelines around them * Work across the full stack and the model layer * Navigate real enterprise environments: the client's IT systems, security constraints, and the stakeholders who own them Own the outcome * Stand behind results with observability and evals the client can check for themselves * Win over the people who use the system day to day; a deployment succeeds when they rely on it * Carry accounts end-to-end: some weeks are executive workshops, some weeks are debugging and agentic orchestration * Bring patterns back to the team so the next engagement starts further ahead ## Related Videos - [Do TypeScript without TypeScript](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/327-do-typescript-without-typescript) - [Using AI Without Losing Your Skills](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2045-using-ai-without-losing-your-skills) - [Creating Industry ready solutions with LLM Models](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/899-creating-industry-ready-solutions-with-llm-models) - [Shipping Faster with Less: Render on Cloud Hosting, AI Workloads, and the Future of DevOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1894-shipping-faster-with-less-render-on-cloud-hosting-ai-workloads-and-the-future-of-devops) - [Vuejs and TypeScript- Working Together like Peanut Butter and Jelly](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/127-vuejs-and-typescript-working-together-like-peanut-butter-and-jelly) - [Build and Deploy a Fullstack App with Open Source Tooling](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/775-build-and-deploy-a-fullstack-app-with-open-source-tooling) ## Related Articles - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Fully Remote Software Engineer Jobs](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/447-fully-remote-software-engineer-jobs) - [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [Dev Digest 138 - Are you secure about this?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/486-dev-digest-138-are-you-secure-about-this) - [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix)