Forward Deployed Research Engineer

hud (YC W25)

. Own technical deployment requests from frontier AI labs, data vendors, and internal teams from triage to completion .

Posted 9/23/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • United StatesMid-LevelSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates strong technical deployment capabilities, with a focus on building tools and pipelines for customer and partner needs. Exhibits the ability to operate independently in ambiguous situations while maintaining effective communication with technical customers and cross-functional teams.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Core Engineering ExperienceStrong Debugging InstinctsExperience Handling Urgent Production IssuesStrong Communication SkillsEarly-Stage Startup Experience

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Technical DeploymentBuilding ToolsPipeline DevelopmentBenchmarkingEvaluation TechniquesDebuggingApplied Research EngineeringForward-Deployed EngineeringProblem-SolvingData Analysis

Soft Skills

Strong JudgmentIndependent OperationCollaborationAdaptabilityCommunication

Industry Keywords

Customer SuccessAI LabsData VendorsProduction IssuesFast-Paced EnvironmentsRemote CollaborationCross-Functional TeamsAmbiguous SituationsTechnical CustomersDeployment Issues

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own technical deployment requests from frontier AI labs, data vendors, and internal teams from triage to completion
Clarify ambiguous requests and identify the actual work required
Build tools and one-off pipelines for urgent customer or partner problems
Coordinate with research and go-to-market teams to unblock deployments
Balance speed and quality when customers need fast turnaround and requirements are not fully specified
Document recurring issues and convert repeated manual work into reusable tools or processes
Work closely with frontier AI labs and data vendors
Complete a 2–3 day work trial as part of the hiring process

Requirements

What you’ll need

Core engineering experience, preferably in a forward deployed or customer success context
Experience working on benchmarks and evals
Ability to reason about realistic tasks, reliable rubrics, usable environments, and useful RL-training trajectories
Strong debugging instincts across code, data, and environments
Ability to operate independently in ambiguous situations without a fully prescribed roadmap
Strong judgment about when to move fast, escalate, or prioritize correctness and security
Comfort working directly with technical customers, vendors, or cross-functional internal teams
Strong candidates may also have experience in applied research engineering or forward-deployed engineering
Experience handling urgent production, customer, or deployment issues
Early-stage startup experience and ability to work independently in fast-paced environments
Strong communication skills for remote collaboration across time zones
Technical aptitude and learning potential; years of experience are not strictly required

Benefits

Comp & perks

100% covered top-of-the-line medical, dental, and vision from Blue Shield of CA (US employees)
Lunch and dinner when you’re in the office (in-office employees)
Company-wide holiday break (Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day) on top of PTO and paid holidays
Equinox membership (US employees)
401k (US employees)
Commuter benefits (US employees)
Unlimited access to tokens for ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, etc.
Support for relocation and visas for strong full-time candidates to the US or Singapore