Senior Forward-Deployed Engineer, Federal
Senior Forward-Deployed Engineer embeds with federal customers to deploy Voice AI solutions, owning full technical lifecycle from PoC to production. Requires 5+ years experience, TS/SCI clearance, full-stack skills in Python/JS/Rust, and federal deployment expertise.
About the job
Opportunity
Deepgram is seeking a Senior Applied Engineer operating as a Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) with a focus on federal customers. Own the full technical lifecycle of federal engagements, from discovery and proof-of-concept through production deployment and optimization. Embed with strategic federal accounts to build mission-critical Voice AI applications, guide adoption, and influence product roadmap.
What You'll Do
- Own technical delivery across federal deployments, from first prototype to stable production
- Embed deeply with federal customers to design and build mission-critical applications powered by Deepgram's Voice AI models
- Lead technical discovery and solution design for federal prospects and customers, partnering with Account Executives
- Prototype and build full-stack integrations using Python, JavaScript, Rust, or comparable stacks
- Enable successful deployments across customer environments by delivering observable systems
- Proactively guide federal stakeholders on maximizing operational value from Deepgram's platform
- Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers early
- Build and manage relationships with customer leadership and technical stakeholders
- Contribute directly to code when clarity or momentum depends on it
- Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, reference architectures
- Share field feedback with Product and Engineering teams
- Serve as an escalation point for complex technical issues
- Analyze deployment patterns to identify product improvement opportunities
It's Important To Us That You Have
- Active Top Secret/SCI (TS/SCI) security clearance, or equivalent
- 5+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience, ideally in customer-facing or government environments
- Strong software engineering background with professional development experience in at least one modern programming language, such as Python, JavaScript, or similar
- Proven ability to scope and deliver complex systems in fast-moving or ambiguous contexts
- Experience building and deploying production systems in government or similarly constrained environments
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Track record of navigating complex sales or procurement cycles in the federal space
- Willingness to travel up to 50%, including on-site work at government facilities
It Would Be Great if You Had
- Experience with speech recognition, NLP, AI/Voice agents, or related AI technologies
- Familiarity with cloud deployment models (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government), Kubernetes, Terraform, and related infrastructure
- Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models
- Knowledge of FedRAMP, FISMA, or other government compliance frameworks
- Experience with API-first products and developer tools
- Background in sales methodologies such as MEDDIC or Solution Selling
- Experience developing automation solutions, self-service tools, and technical documentation
Skills
Python, JavaScript, Rust, Kubernetes, Terraform, Aws Govcloud, Azure Government, NLP, LLMs, FedRAMP, Fisma
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