Senior Forward-Deployed Engineer, Federal

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