# Forward-Deployed Engineer 

**Company:** [Vercel](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/vercel)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Austin, TX
**Role:** Solutions Architecture
**Salary:** $137k – $207k/yr
**Experience:** 5+ years
**Skills:** Next.js, TypeScript, React, Ai Sdk, App Router, Server Components, Isr, Edge Functions, Core Web Vitals, LLMs
**Posted:** 2026-01-22

> Embeds with enterprise customers to lead Next.js migrations, architect high-performance apps, and build AI solutions using Vercel's tools. Requires 5+ years engineering experience, expert TypeScript/Next.js/React skills, and customer-facing expertise.

## Job Description

## What you will do:
- **Lead complex frontend migrations**—modernizing legacy React, Vue, or other frameworks to Next.js, including Pages to App Router transitions, incremental adoption strategies, and large-scale codebase transformations.
- **Conduct technical assessments and code audits**, analyzing customer codebases for performance bottlenecks, architectural anti-patterns, and optimization opportunities—delivering actionable roadmaps that drive measurable improvements.
- **Architect and implement high-performance Next.js applications**, leveraging App Router, Server Components, streaming, ISR, edge functions, and advanced rendering strategies to meet enterprise scale and performance requirements.
- **Optimize Core Web Vitals and application performance**, using tools like Vercel Speed Insights to diagnose issues and implement fixes that improve SEO, conversion rates, and user experience.
- **Build production AI solutions** using Vercel’s AI SDK and AI Cloud—including conversational interfaces, production agents, MCP servers, and agentic workflows that transform customer operations.
- **Embed with strategic customers** to build production applications—working within their systems, understanding their constraints, and shipping TypeScript code that goes live.
- **Drive enablement and knowledge transfer** through workshops, pair programming, and documentation—ensuring customer teams can extend and maintain solutions independently.
- **Navigate complex enterprise environments** by building relationships with stakeholders across engineering, product, and executive teams—translating technical capabilities into business outcomes.
- **Participate in pre-sales activities** by providing technical expertise during discovery calls, scoping sessions, and proposal development for migrations, audits, and AI transformation engagements.
- **Contribute to our service evolution** by identifying repeatable patterns, building reusable components, and sharing implementation insights back to Product and Engineering teams.

## About you:
- **5+ years of experience** in software engineering with at least 2 years in a customer-facing technical role (consulting, solutions engineering, forward deployed engineering, or technical founder experience).
- **Expert-level TypeScript skills**—this is your primary language. You write production TypeScript daily and have strong opinions on type safety, patterns, and tooling.
- **Deep expertise in Next.js**, with a proven track record of architecting and delivering complex applications using App Router, Server Components, server-side rendering (SSR), static generation (SSG), incremental static regeneration (ISR), and edge functions.
- **Demonstrated experience leading frontend migrations**—you’ve modernized legacy applications to Next.js, navigated incremental adoption strategies, and understand the challenges of migrating large codebases in production environments.
- **Mastery of React** and its ecosystem, including advanced state management, performance optimization, and modern patterns like streaming, suspense, and concurrent features.
- **Production experience with LLMs and AI applications**, including prompt engineering, agent development, and tool use patterns. Familiarity with Vercel’s AI SDK is strongly preferred.
- **High agency with comfort in ambiguity**—you thrive when given a problem to solve rather than a task to complete, and you can navigate complex organizations to drive outcomes.
- **Exceptional communication skills** with the ability to conduct technical discovery, present to executives, mentor engineers, and build lasting customer relationships—all with a low-ego, collaborative approach.
- **Business acumen** to understand customer objectives, translate technical capabilities into ROI, and identify expansion opportunities throughout engagement lifecycles.
- **Willingness to travel 25-40%** to customer sites for embedded work and relationship building.

## Bonus if you:
- Have led large-scale migrations from legacy frameworks (Create React App, Gatsby, custom webpack setups) to Next.js in enterprise environments.
- Have expertise in performance optimization and Core Web Vitals, with experience diagnosing and fixing LCP, CLS, and INP issues at scale.
- Have experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP), building MCP servers, or implementing complex tool-use patterns in production AI applications.
- Have led enterprise AI transformation initiatives, including building production agents that automated manual processes or replaced legacy systems.
- Have worked with micro-frontends, module federation, or multi-team frontend architectures.
- Have contributed to the Next.js, React, or AI SDK open-source projects, or maintain popular related libraries.
- Have experience with enterprise deployment patterns including security reviews, compliance requirements, and multi-region architectures.
- Have a background in financial services, healthcare, retail/e-commerce, or media—industries with complex frontend ecosystems and growing AI adoption.
- Have spoken at conferences or published thought leadership on frontend architecture, migrations, or AI applications.

## Benefits
- Great compensation package and stock options.
- Inclusive Healthcare Package.
- Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
- Flexible Time Off - Flexible vacation policy with a recommended 4-weeks per year, and paid holidays.
- Remote Friendly - Work with teammates from different time zones across the globe.
- We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

## Similar roles

- [Manager, Public Sector Solutions Architects](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/9931d6fb-d300-48f5-9ac2-4a4bddcd9d34) - GitLab - Remote - $137k – $231k/yr
- [Procurement Product Activation Specialist](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/5da48785-157e-41c6-8a8d-7227171da735) - Ramp - New York, NY - $138k – $210k/yr
- [Solution Engineer](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/4ffffabe-2b68-48d7-977d-1258d2f4c9ba) - Snowflake - Menlo Park, CA - $138k – $181k/yr
- [Mission Software Engineer, Public Sector](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/dfe26ad9-3cca-4c71-8190-28b5a60d40e4) - Scale AI - Colorado Springs, CO - $138k – $293k/yr
- [Partner Solutions Architect - South East](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/a5d135fc-ae23-408d-afcb-4d82cccef6d6) - Wiz - Remote - $139k – $182k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/a3006dbf-5b70-4e70-8e11-62bdd4d30424
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/a3006dbf-5b70-4e70-8e11-62bdd4d30424