> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/2712724-forward-deployed-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/2712724-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:** Hadrian Automation - **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States - **Salary:** $120,000.0 - $250,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Github, Design of User Interfaces, Backend, OPUS (Software) - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/forward-deployed-engineer-hadrian-automation-8703276 ## About the Role * Strong builder with high ownership - comfortable going 0 to 1 and shipping in ambiguous environments where no one hands you the spec. * AI-native, and relentless about it. We're looking for ridiculously high-pace, high-agency engineers who use AI to compress everything - discovery, prototyping, execution. You can show us concretely how AI already makes you multiples faster, and you're hungry to push it further. * Comfortable across the whole stack - everything from UI/UX work to designing backend systems, reaching for whatever technology best fits the problem rather than defaulting to what you know. * Strong product instincts. You think about what to build, not just how to build it. * Experience working directly with customers or end users, translating ambiguous needs into concrete, shipped solutions. * Communication range. You can engage operators and program managers on the factory floor and senior program stakeholders in the same week, and translate complex technical constraints into terms that drive non-technical decisions. * Driven by the mission and the tempo. You get energized by the impact you're having on the programs you work on, and you care deeply about delivering at the pace our customers need. What Will Set You Apart * Founder or founding-engineer experience - you've taken a new product zero to one. * Prior forward-deployed, solutions engineering, or technical consulting experience - you've built directly against messy customer reality before. * Domain background in aerospace, defense, or manufacturing - or anywhere hardware and software have to meet. * A visible body of work - a strong GitHub presence or a portfolio of projects you've shipped outside of work. ## Description Forward Deployed Engineers embed on enterprise customer programs and do whatever it takes to make them succeed. Sometimes that means providing connective tissue: configuring and integrating Opus, Hadrian's software and robotics platform, for the specific needs of a program. Just as often it means building new products at the edge, including ones the customer didn't know to ask for. You'll drive the full loop from discovery to deployment, with no layers between you and the customer. The best of what you build won't stay bespoke. The products you create at the edge often become part of Opus, which makes this one of the sharpest sources of new product discovery at Hadrian. This is not a customer success or deployment-support role - you'll spend most of your time building. The team is early and the people who join now will define what it becomes. What You'll Do * Work a program end to end - from the first ambiguous conversation through discovery, build, deployment, and iteration. You stay on it from the messy start to running in production. * Communicate across the full stakeholder range - customer leadership, program managers, and the operators and engineers on both their team and Hadrian's - translating technical constraints into decisions non-technical stakeholders can act on. * Partner with the teams building Opus to go deep where a program needs it - architecting the integrations, data models, and configuration that let the platform run against a customer's real systems and production reality. ## Related Videos - [Innovating Developer Tools with AI: Insights from GitHub Next](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1268-innovating-developer-tools-with-ai-insights-from-github-next) - [Developing the Backend with Stefan Lingler, CTO at Shpock](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100360-developing-the-backend-with-stefan-lingler-cto-at-shpock) - [Times of (climate) crisis - How and why sustainable software is a must!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/988-times-of-climate-crisis-how-and-why-sustainable-software-is-a-must) - [AI-Augmented DevOps with Platform Engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1614-ai-augmented-devops-with-platform-engineering) - [Bringing AI Model Testing and Prompt Management to Your Codebase with GitHub Models](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1536-bringing-ai-model-testing-and-prompt-management-to-your-codebase-with-github-models) - [AI Won't Fix Your Engineering Culture](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100266-ai-won-t-fix-your-engineering-culture) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix) - [Never delegate the understanding](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/749-never-delegate-the-understanding) - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Stephan Gillich - Bringing AI Everywhere](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/489-stephan-gillich-bringing-ai-everywhere)