Forward Deployed Engineer
Summary
A forward deployed engineer at Strala, an AI-native insurance claims company, owns client deployments end to end — deploying multi-modal, agentic AI systems into production, integrating with client APIs and systems, and shaping the product based on what works. Core stack: Python, APIs, cloud platforms, and LLM/prompt engineering, working on-site in San Francisco.
Forward Deployed Engineer
Company: Confidential — rebuilding insurance claims as an AI-native operator
Location: San Francisco, CA (in person; full relocation support)
Compensation: $150,000 - $225,000 + competitive equity
Employment Type: Full-time
Visa Sponsorship: H-1B
About the Company
The client is rebuilding insurance claims as an AI-native operator, automating intake, fraud detection and settlement across the claims lifecycle. It reached multi-seven-figure ARR in under a year and has raised two rounds from tier-1 funds including Founders Fund. The team of about 25 comes from Harvard, Berkeley, Oxford, Optiver, AMD and Palantir.
The Role
The client is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to deploy multi-modal, agentic AI systems into production with significant business impact. You will own client deployments end to end, from scoping through go-live, as the primary contact for senior client stakeholders. The role is more technical and more product-owning than most FDE roles: you will shape what the product becomes based on what works in production, working directly with the CTO in a forward-deployed function that is still being built.
What You Will Do
- Deploy multi-modal, agentic AI systems into production for senior client stakeholders.
- Own client deployments from scoping through go-live.
- Build trusted relationships with client executives and align priorities.
- Design and evolve AI agents that deliver strong claims outcomes: prompt engineering, model integration and rapid prototyping with AI-assisted tools.
- Scope and build new features that help customers scale.
- Integrate the client into client environments, working hands-on with their tech teams on APIs and systems.
- Feed insights back to the platform team and write playbooks that scale the FDE function.
What You Bring
- 2+ years in a role combining technical depth with client-facing ownership (agent engineering, FDE, growth engineering, or founding engineer/founder)
- A solid technical foundation in Python, APIs, cloud platforms and modern AI/ML tooling
- Familiarity with LLMs, prompt engineering and agentic AI, plus AI-assisted development workflows
- Strong client-facing communication that connects technical work to business outcomes
- A founder-mode operating style
- Based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco
Nice to Have
- FDE experience at a top AI company (Palantir, Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale, Cognition)
- Agent or growth engineering background
- Founding engineer or founder experience
- Backend engineering plus solutions engineering experience combined
- ICPC, NeurIPS or similar
Benefits
Top-quartile salary and equity, full relocation support, all meals covered, and productivity tools provided.
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