Senior Forward-Deployed Engineer, Federal

Deepgram•Washington D.C., WA

15d•Remote

About The Position

Deepgram is seeking a Senior Applied Engineer to join our Applied Engineering team, operating in the Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE) role with a focus on federal customers. In this role, you will embed directly with our most strategic federal accounts to lead complex deployments of Deepgram's Voice AI platform in production environments where mission performance matters, delivery is urgent, and ambiguity is the default. You will own the full technical lifecycle of federal engagements, from initial discovery and proof-of-concept through production deployment and ongoing optimization. You'll map customer problems, structure delivery, and ship solutions fast. This includes scoping, sequencing, and building full-stack integrations that create measurable mission impact while driving clarity across internal and external teams. Along the way, you'll identify reusable patterns, codify best practices, and share field signals that influence Deepgram's product roadmap. As a member of the Applied Engineering team, you'll serve as the trusted technical thought partner for federal stakeholders, guiding adoption, maximizing operational value, and ensuring successful deployments at scale. While your engagements will primarily involve federal customers, you'll remain a core part of the broader Applied Engineering team and may contribute to commercial engagements where your expertise is valuable. Note: this role is based remotely out of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area. The Applied Engineering (AppEng) team at Deepgram combines the functions that other companies might separate into Sales Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Implementation, Forward-Deployed Engineering, and Technical Support. We serve as the technical interface between Deepgram and our customers throughout their entire journey, from initial discovery and proof-of-concept, through implementation and onboarding, to ongoing technical support. We work closely with our Customer Success and Developer Relations (DevRel) teams to ensure a positive, growth-focused experience for our customers, as well as with Product and Engineering teams to deliver solutions that meet customer needs. This unified approach allows us to provide comprehensive technical guidance and build deeper relationships with our customers. As a Senior Applied Engineer operating in the FDE role for federal engagements, you'll work with a high degree of autonomy in customer environments that often have unique infrastructure constraints, compliance requirements, and security considerations. Your work will directly shape how federal agencies leverage Voice AI to achieve their missions.

Requirements

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 with the ability to translate technical concepts for both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior government leadership
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

Nice To Haves

Experience with speech recognition, NLP, AI/Voice agents, or related AI technologies
Familiarity with cloud deployment models (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, etc.), Kubernetes, Terraform, and related infrastructure
Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models, with an understanding of how model behavior affects product experience
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, particularly in government contexts
Experience developing automation solutions, self-service tools, and technical documentation for customer enablement

Responsibilities

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 to navigate complex government sales and procurement cycles
Prototype and build full-stack integrations using Python, JavaScript, Rust, or comparable stacks that deliver real mission impact
Enable successful deployments across customer environments by delivering observable systems spanning infrastructure through applications
Proactively guide federal stakeholders on maximizing operational value from Deepgram's platform, including performance optimization and deployment strategies
Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers early, making deliberate trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality
Build and manage relationships with customer leadership and technical stakeholders to ensure successful deployment and scale
Contribute directly to code when clarity or momentum depends on it
Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, reference architectures, and building blocks the broader team can use
Share field feedback with Product and Engineering to influence model and product development
Serve as an escalation point for complex technical issues in federal deployments
Analyze deployment patterns to identify product improvement opportunities and inform Deepgram's federal go-to-market strategy