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Forward Deployed Engineer

Profound

Profound

Software Engineering
San Francisco, CA, USA
USD 160k-300k / year + Equity
Posted on Oct 29, 2025

Location

New York City, San Francisco, and Buenos Aires

Employment Type

Full time

Department

Engineering

Compensation

  • $160K – $300K • Offers Equity

About Profound


Profound is an NYC-based AI startup helping brands measure and improve their visibility in AI platforms such as ChatGPT. We partner with some of the biggest brands and marketing agencies, including companies like MongoDB, Indeed, Mercury, DocuSign, Zapier, Ramp, Rho, Golin, Workable, Mejuri, Eight Sleep, G2, US Bank, Chime, and Clay.

We recently raised a $35 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with continued backing from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, and South Park Commons, as well as angel investors including Guillermo Rauch (Vercel) and Andrew Karam (Applovin).

Learn more at tryprofound.com.

About the Role

As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Profound, you'll be the technical bridge between our engineering team and our Fortune 500 clients. You'll combine deep engineering expertise with exceptional communication skills to ensure our most strategic customers successfully integrate and maximize value from our platform. This role requires the full technical rigor of a software engineer with the client-facing skills of a solutions architect.

You'll write production code, architect custom integrations, and solve complex technical challenges while sitting in client meetings, presenting to CTOs, and translating between engineering and executive stakeholders. This is not a support role—you're a full-stack engineer who happens to love working directly with customers.

What You'll Work On

Client Integration & Technical Implementation

  • Design and build custom integrations connecting Profound's platform to enterprise systems

  • Write production-quality code in TypeScript, Python, and Next.js for client-specific features

  • Architect solutions that handle enterprise-scale data volumes and security requirements

  • Debug complex issues spanning client infrastructure and our systems

  • Optimize performance for clients processing millions of daily queries

Client Partnership & Communication

  • Lead technical discussions with client engineering teams and C-suite executives

  • Join client calls to understand requirements and translate them into technical solutions

  • Present technical architectures and implementation plans to diverse audiences

  • Build trusted relationships with technical champions at Fortune 500 companies

  • Conduct technical workshops and training sessions for client teams

Product Development & Feedback Loop

  • Identify patterns in client needs and work with product to build scalable solutions

  • Contribute to core product development based on field insights

  • Build reusable components and libraries for common integration patterns

  • Document technical solutions and create implementation guides

  • Influence product roadmap with direct customer feedback

Strategic Projects

  • Lead enterprise POCs that unlock multi-million dollar contracts

  • Design data pipelines integrating with client BI tools and data warehouses

  • Build custom dashboards and reporting solutions for executive stakeholders

  • Develop automation workflows connecting AI insights to business processes

What We're Looking For

Technical Requirements:

  • 2+ years of software engineering experience with production systems

  • Strong proficiency in TypeScript, Next.js, and React

  • Solid Python experience for backend development and data processing

  • Experience with REST APIs and system integration patterns

  • Database experience (PostgreSQL, time-series databases)

  • Comfort with cloud platforms (AWS preferred)

  • Rust experience is a plus but not required

Client-Facing Skills:

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills

  • Ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

  • Comfort presenting to and building relationships with executives

  • Experience working directly with enterprise clients

  • Strong problem-solving skills under pressure

  • Ability to context-switch between multiple client engagements

Mindset:

  • Customer obsession—you genuinely care about client success

  • Engineering rigor—you write clean, maintainable, production-ready code

  • Strategic thinking—you see beyond tickets to understand business impact

  • Ownership mentality—you own client relationships end-to-end

  • Growth mindset—you thrive in ambiguity and rapid change

What Makes This Role Unique

You're not just implementing features—you're directly shaping how Fortune 500 companies adapt to the AI revolution. Every integration you build, every problem you solve, directly impacts multi-million dollar decisions about AI strategy.

You'll have unique visibility across our entire customer base, seeing patterns that inform both product direction and go-to-market strategy. Your work directly influences our product roadmap, and your insights shape how we build for enterprise scale.

This role offers a rare combination: the technical depth of a senior engineer, the strategic impact of a product manager, and the relationship-building of a trusted advisor to the world's largest companies.

Compensation Range: $160K - $300K