Forward Deployment Engineer

Forward Deployment Engineer

Lead I - Software Engineering

Who We Are:

Born digital, UST transforms lives through the power of technology. We walk alongside our clients and partners, embedding innovation and agility into everything they do. We help them create transformative experiences and human-centered solutions for a better world.

UST is a mission-driven group of 29,000+ practical problem solvers and creative thinkers in more than 30 countries. Our entrepreneurial teams are empowered to innovate, act nimbly, and create a lasting and sustainable impact for our clients, their customers, and the communities in which we live.

With us, you'll create a boundless impact that transforms your career-and the lives of people across the world.

Visit us at UST.com.

You Are:

This is a high-impact role for an experienced engineer who has done the work before, thrives in ambiguity, and operates with little oversight. As one of the first FDEs, you won't just deploy solutions - you'll define how this team works: the playbooks, the standards, the tooling, and the bar for everyone who follows.

The opportunity:

* Embed with internal teams and external customers to understand their workflows, pain points, and goals - then design and deploy solutions that fit.

* Build production-quality code, integrations, and automations across AI/GenAI, data, and software platforms to solve concrete business problems.

* Prototype rapid prototypes and proofs-of-concept, iterate based on direct user feedback, and move them into reliable, scalable production.

* Integrate data pipelines, APIs, and third-party systems, handling the real-world messiness of enterprise environments.

* Partner with end users and stakeholders - running demos, gathering requirements, troubleshooting live, and translating technical concepts into business value.

* Feed recurring pain points and friction back to product and engineering teams to influence the core roadmap.

* Monitor and improve solutions for reliability, performance, and adoption after launch - you own outcomes, not just deliverables.

* Establish the playbooks, standards, and tooling for the FDE function, and mentor junior engineers as the team grows.

This position description identifies the responsibilities and tasks typically associated with the performance of the position. Other relevant essential functions may be required.

What you need:

* Experience: 8+ years building and shipping software in production, including significant time owning complex, ambiguous projects end-to-end with minimal supervision.

* Technical depth: Deep, hands-on programming expertise (e.g., Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, or Go), strong system design judgment, and fluency working across the full stack and with APIs.

* Platform fluency: Proven experience with data tools (SQL, pipelines, warehouses such as Snowflake/Databricks) and/or AI/GenAI tooling (LLMs, RAG, agentic workflows). You bring real breadth and adapt quickly to the right tool for the problem.

* Customer-facing track record: A track record of customer-facing or forward-deployed work - you've shipped solutions directly with end users, navigated enterprise complexity, and earned the trust of senior stakeholders.

* Leadership: You've led projects, set technical direction, and raised the bar for those around you - formally or informally.

* Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication; you translate fluidly between deep technical detail and executive-level business value.

* Bias for action: You ship, learn, and iterate quickly at a high-quality bar, and you bring order to ambiguous, fast-moving situations.

* Nice to Have:

* Experience deploying AI/ML or LLM-based solutions in an enterprise setting.

* Cloud experience (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and familiarity with CI/CD and containerization.

* Experience as a founding or early member of a new team or function.

* Telecommunications or large-scale enterprise data domain knowledge.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role

Compensation can differ depending on factors including but not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set, education, and level of experience. UST provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired in various U.S. markets as set forth below.

Role Location: Washington

Compensation Range : $75,000-$113,000

Benefits

Full-time, regular employees accrue a minimum of 10 days of paid vacation per year, receive 6 days of paid sick leave each year (pro-rated for new hires throughout the year), 10 paid holidays, and are eligible for paid bereavement leave and jury duty. They are eligible to participate in the Company's 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer matching. They and their dependents residing in the US are eligible for medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as the following Company-paid Employee Only benefits: basic life insurance, accidental death and disability insurance, and short- and long-term disability benefits. Regular employees may purchase additional voluntary short-term disability benefits, and participate in a Health Savings Account (HSA) as well as a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for healthcare, dependent child care, and/or commuting expenses as allowable under IRS guidelines. Benefits offerings vary in Puerto Rico.

Part-time employees receive 6 days of paid sick leave each year (pro-rated for new hires throughout the year) and are eligible to participate in the Company's 401(k) Retirement Plan with employer matching.

Full-time temporary employees receive 6 days of paid sick leave each year (pro-rated for new hires throughout the year) and are eligible to participate in the Company's 401(k) program with employer matching. They and their dependents residing in the US are eligible for medical, dental, and vision insurance.

Part-time temporary employees receive 6 days of paid sick leave each year (pro-rated for new hires throughout the year).

All US employees who work in a state or locality with more generous paid sick leave benefits than specified here will receive the benefit of those sick leave laws.

What we believe:

We proudly embrace the values that have shaped UST since day one. We build our culture of Humility, Humanity, and Integrity. These values inspire us to nurture a people-first, human centric culture that fosters diversity, prioritizes sustainable solutions, and keeps our people and clients at the forefront of all decisions.

Humility:

We will listen, learn, be empathetic and help selflessly in our interactions with everyone.

Humanity:

Through business, we will better the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.

Integrity:

We honor our commitments and act with responsibility in all our relationships.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

UST is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with state and local laws and "fair chance" ordinances.

UST reserves the right to periodically redefine your roles and responsibilities based on the requirements of the organization and/or your performance.

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Java, Microsoft Azure, Python