Forward Deployed Engineer, Gov
Remote • Washington, DC • FullTime
Posted 1y ago
Remote Work Policy
Fully remote
Employment Type
FullTime
Categories
Applied AI Engineer
About the job
The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) role at OpenAI for Government focuses on leading complex deployments of frontier AI models in production environments for government and public sector customers. You will embed with these strategic clients to understand their challenges, structure delivery, and rapidly build full-stack solutions that create measurable value. This involves scoping, sequencing, and driving clarity across internal and external teams, acting as a technical thought partner to defense, intelligence, and federal stakeholders to guide adoption, maximize mission impact, and ensure successful deployments at scale. The role also involves identifying reusable patterns, codifying best practices, and providing field feedback to influence OpenAI's product roadmap.
Responsibilities
- Own technical delivery for government deployments, from prototype to production.
- Embed with public sector customers to design and build novel applications using OpenAI models.
- Deliver observable systems spanning infrastructure to applications for successful customer deployments.
- Prototype and build full-stack systems using Python, JavaScript, or comparable stacks.
- Guide customers on maximizing business and operational value from their applications.
- Forge and manage relationships with customer leadership and stakeholders.
- Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers, balancing scope, speed, and quality.
- Contribute directly to code when necessary for clarity or momentum.
- Codify working patterns into reusable tools and playbooks.
- Share field feedback with Research and Product teams to influence development.
- Maintain team momentum through clarity, judgment, and follow-through.
Requirements
- 5+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience, preferably in customer-facing or government environments.
- Active TS/SCI clearance or equivalent.
- Experience scoping and delivering complex systems in fast-moving or ambiguous contexts.
- Proficiency in writing and reviewing production-grade code across frontend and backend, using Python, JavaScript, or similar stacks.
- Familiarity with cloud deployment models (Azure, AWS), Kubernetes, Terraform, and related infrastructure.
- Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models.
- Ability to simplify complexity, make sound decisions under pressure, and communicate clearly across technical and non-technical audiences.
- Skill in spotting risks early, adjusting without slowing down, and modeling calm judgment.
- Humble, collaborative, and empathetic approach.
- High horsepower, ability to thrive in dynamic environments, and ruthless prioritization skills.