Staff Forward Deployed AI Engineer

We are looking for a Staff Forward Deployed AI Engineer with 5–10 years of experience to serve as the technical backbone of Cadre AI's San Diego engineering team. This is a rare hybrid role for someone who can ship complex production AI systems and hold their own in a room with a skeptical CFO or CTO — a true unicorn who combines deep engineering craft with executive presence and a genuine passion for mentoring others.

What will you be doing?

- Build and own end-to-end production AI systems across a diverse client portfolio — voice agents, RAG pipelines, LLM orchestration, Salesforce integrations, and more

- Join client calls alongside solutions leaders to translate complex technical builds to C-level stakeholders and keep engagements on track under pressure

- Mentor and coach the existing team of 3 FDEs — reviewing their client calls via Fireflies, spot-checking their work, and developing their technical and client-facing skills

- Act as a thought partner to the Head of Engineering — proactively surfacing better approaches, improving team systems and processes, and helping set the engineering bar

- Triage and delegate builds across the team, freeing up your time for the highest-complexity client problems while growing junior engineers through hands-on ownership