Forward Deployed Software Engineer

Fid Labs•New York City, NY

30d•$135,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Forward Deployed Software Engineer at Fid Labs, you will embed directly with our customers to build and deploy AI infrastructure that transforms how they develop robotics software. You'll split your time between customer sites and our New York office, working hands-on to understand complex robotics workflows, identify bottlenecks in their development cycles, and build custom solutions using our agent platform. Beyond implementation, you'll serve as a trusted technical partner for customers, gathering product feedback, shaping our roadmap based on real-world deployment challenges, and rapidly prototyping new capabilities. The position is based in New York City with significant travel to customer sites (expect 30-50% travel). You'll work closely with the founding team, experiencing all aspects of building a startup while directly shaping the future of robotics developer tools.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with at least 3 years of experience developing backend and systems software (C++, Python, C, Rust)
Experience writing embedded software or otherwise working with robots, unmanned aircraft, autonomous vehicles, or other physical systems
Experience building or working with LLM applications, AI agents, or developer tooling
Demonstrated ability to thrive in ambiguous, customer-facing situations where requirements emerge through conversation and iteration
Demonstrated ability to continuously learn, work independently, and make decisions with minimal supervision
Comfort diving into unfamiliar technical domains and quickly internalizing their paradigms and vocabulary
Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences, from engineers to executive stakeholders
Willingness to travel 30-50% of the time to customer sites across the United States and internationally
Must be a U.S. Citizen or active Green Card holder and comfortable working with customers in the defense industry (this also means we are unable to sponsor any visa)

Responsibilities

Architect and deploy custom agents, MCP integrations, and tool interfaces that accelerate customers' development cycles
Work within secure cloud and on-premises computing environments, ensuring solutions meet stringent security and compliance requirements
Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customers, building trust and long-term partnerships through responsive support and continuous iteration
Rapidly prototype new capabilities based on customer needs, translating field insights into product improvements that benefit our entire customer base
Debug production issues in unfamiliar codebases and environments, moving quickly from problem identification to solution deployment
Collaborate with the founding team on product strategy, go-to-market decisions, and company-building beyond just engineering