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OpenAIOpenAISan Francisco, CA

Manager, Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Life Sciences

Lead a team of Forward Deployed Engineers to deliver and scale production AI systems for life sciences R&D and clinical workflows at OpenAI. Requires 8+ years engineering experience (2+ years managing), hands-on coding in regulated environments, and strong stakeholder communication.

252k – 335k/yr
Hybrid8+ YOEEngineering Management

About the role

Responsibilities

  • Lead and grow a team of Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) delivering production AI systems across regulated life sciences environments.
  • Be accountable for the team’s end-to-end delivery outcomes, balancing scope, speed, robustness, and risk in high-stakes deployments.
  • Coach and develop engineers through direct feedback, high technical standards, and clear expectations for execution and ownership.
  • Operate as a player-coach, directly contributing to production systems while leading, coaching, and setting technical direction.
  • Guide teams through ambiguous, multi-workstream engagements spanning data, workflows, infrastructure, security, and scientific stakeholders.
  • Run evaluation loops that measure model and system quality against workflow-specific scientific benchmarks, then convert results into crisp roadmap input.

Requirements

  • 8+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience, including 2+ years managing high-performing customer-facing or systems-oriented engineering teams.
  • Experience leading complex, high-pressure technical programs from prototype through sustained production use in regulated environments.
  • Experience working in or adjacent to life sciences R&D, clinical research, scientific software, or regulated scientific data environments.
  • Ability to write and review production-grade code and guide architectural decisions across backend, data, and ML-adjacent systems.
  • Ability to translate scientific and technical tradeoffs into clear delivery plans, risk posture, and measurable outcomes across scientific, clinical, technical, and executive audiences.
  • Ability to elevate team performance through clarity, judgment, and technical credibility.
  • Ability to turn field experience into precise, actionable feedback for Product, Research, and GTM teams.

Nice-to-Haves

  • Experience in regulated environments (e.g., pharma, biotech, CROs, research institutions).
  • Hands-on with evaluation frameworks and converting results into product roadmaps.

Skills

ai systemsbackenddataMachine LearningPythonEvaluation Frameworksregulated environmentslife sciences r&dscientific softwareInfrastructureSecurity

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