Piper Companies is seeking a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to lead technical strategy and architecture for enterprise AI deployments. This role serves as the trusted advisor for customers, translating AI and data initiatives into scalable, production-ready solutions while partnering closely with Product and Engineering teams to drive platform innovation. The ideal candidate combines expertise in AI, data integration, cloud architecture, and customer-facing solution delivery. This is a fully remote fulltime opportunity looking to bring in talent immediately.
Responsibilities of the Principal Forward Deployed Engineer include:
- Lead customer discovery sessions to define AI, data, integration, and governance requirements.
- Architect end-to-end AI solutions, including agent orchestration, data connectivity, semantic modeling, and security controls.
- Design governed access models using RBAC, OAuth 2.1, auditing, and enterprise security best practices.
- Present architecture recommendations to technical and executive stakeholders, balancing business and technical objectives.
- Partner with Product and Engineering teams to identify platform improvements and scalable deployment patterns.
- Create reusable reference architectures, implementation frameworks, and technical best practices.
- Mentor engineers, provide technical leadership across engagements, and serve as an escalation point for complex solutions.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive successful customer outcomes and establish architectural standards.
Qualifications for the Principal Forward Deployed Engineer include:
- 7+ years of experience as a Solutions Architect, Principal SE, Forward Deployed Engineer, Technical Lead, or similar customer-facing technical role.
- Proven success delivering production AI applications and enterprise SaaS solutions.
- Strong knowledge of LLMs, AI agents, RAG, prompt engineering, and AI governance.
- Experience with SQL, APIs, ETL/ELT, CDC pipelines, and enterprise data integration.
- Expertise designing secure, multi-tenant architectures with RBAC, OAuth 2.1, and governance controls.
- Experience with modern data and cloud platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, Salesforce, AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both executive and technical audiences.
- Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives without direct management responsibilities.
- Familiarity with MCP, LangChain, CrewAI, Copilot Studio, or similar AI agent frameworks.
- Previous experience in a Forward Deployed Engineering or embedded customer-facing role preferred.
Compensation for the principal Forward Deployed Engineer includes:
- Salary Range: $175,000 – $240,000/year
- Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), and applicable sick leave
Keywords: Forward Deployed Engineer, Principal Solutions Engineer, Solutions Architect, Technical Lead, Enterprise SaaS, AI Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Large Language Models (LLMs), Agentic AI, AI Agents, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Prompt Engineering, AI Governance, Model Context Protocol (MCP), LangChain, CrewAI, Copilot Studio, Data Architecture, Data Integration, Data Connectivity, SQL, ETL, ELT, CDC, APIs, ODBC, JDBC, Semantic Data Modeling, Agent Orchestration, Snowflake, Databricks, Salesforce, AWS, Azure, GCP, Cloud Architecture, Multi-Tenant Architecture, Enterprise Security, RBAC, OAuth 2.1, Audit Controls, Technical Discovery, Solution Design, Enterprise Applications, Architecture Review Boards, Reference Architectures, Platform Engineering, Governance Controls, Enterprise AI Deployment, Production AI Applications, Technical Leadership, Customer-Facing Engineering, Executive Stakeholder Management, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Mentorship.
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This job is open for applications on 9/4/2026 and will remain open for at least 30 days from the posting date