Forward Deployed Engineer | IFS Copperleaf

Influenced ACV on deals where an FDE engaged.

Time to first working prototype on the customer’s own data.

Graduation rate: the share of prototypes that reach production.

Patterns and accelerators shipped, and how often they get reused on later engagements.

Recurring gaps taken to Product, and what Product decided.

Customer-facing and commercial ability. You can run a technical discovery session, hold a value conversation with both technical and business stakeholders, and connect what you build to the customer's outcome and the deal's value case. The ultimate value of this role is connecting technology to real business outcomes.

Abstraction and reuse. You can generalize what you built for one customer into a reusable accelerator the team applies on the next engagement.

AI and agentic engineering. LLM application development, RAG, prompt and context engineering, and agent orchestration, including the judgment for when to use single versus multi-agent patterns and how to handle memory and state. Modern AI coding tools such as Claude Code as daily practice, not novelty.

Familiar with enterprise integrations in a regulated utility market. You’re familiar with key customer systems such as ESRI ArcGIS/Smallworld, IBM Maximo/EAM, SAP/Oracle ERP/PPM, and PowerBI/reporting systems. You have a technical and functional understanding of REST and streaming APIs, authentication patterns, and integrating with enterprise systems of record.

Domain in asset-intensive industries (utilities, energy, transportation) or capital and asset investment planning. We hire for engineering strength and teach the domain, so this is a strong plus, not a gate.

Travel. Willingness to travel to customer sites as needed, up to ~50%.

Software or data engineering background. You have built and shipped real working software at some point in your career, not just scripts, and you write code another engineer can pick up and maintain. Fluent in Angular, Python or a similar language, and comfortable working in unfamiliar languages and codebases. An understanding of SQL, data modeling, and building pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and serving. Strong debugging instincts against imperfect customer data in live environments.

Depth in production engineering: observability, performance, and operating at scale.

Prior exposure to customer-facing technical work, solutions engineering, forward deployment, technical consulting, or a startup where you wore several hats.

Prior experience deploying AI in enterprise or regulated environments.

A deep listener, who obsesses on problem understanding and values outcomes.

A creator who builds and prototypes fast, whether standing up existing capability or inventing what does not exist yet.

AI-native and product-minded, with the judgment to know what is credible to demonstrate versus promise.

Secure building alongside a deal team without needing to own the relationship.

A communicator, who understands the cross-functional nature of the work and can hold their own at the lowest level investment planner to the boardroom executive.

A story-teller who can take what they’ve created and craft the right messaging, understanding that what they've built changes behaviors, processes, and sometimes, mindsets.

Salary Range: $145,000 to $180,000 USD annually + bonus

Flexible paid time off, including sick and holiday

Medical, dental, & vision insurance

Flexible spending accounts

Life insurance and disability benefits

Tuition assistance

Community involvement and volunteering events

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.

As part of our recruitment process, we may use automated tools, including artificial intelligence, to help screen and assess applications based on job‑related criteria such as skills, experience, and qualifications.

These tools do not make hiring decisions. All employment decisions are reviewed and made by members of our hiring team.

This position is a new role.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Equal Opportunity Employer