Forward Deployed Engineer

Forward Deployed EngineerSan Francisco, CA (Hybrid: SF office + customer sites)Full-time | Nightwave AILanding page: https://www.nightwave.aiWhat Nightwave isNightwave builds software for investigators and the teams that support them.Investigators work from messy evidence: documents, messages, records, media, and case notes. Nightwave turns that evidence into a structured case picture you can trust: people, organizations, places, events, timelines, and relationships, each tied back to the source. Investigators then work that picture in a visual workspace, with an AI agent (Zero) that can help move the case forward.We build for people who need answers that hold up: investigators, analysts, and operators in high-stakes environments. Wrong answers, missing sources, or shallow demos are not acceptable here.Where we are goingNightwave becomes the standard system investigators use to organize evidence, see the case clearly, and act on it. That means better evidence handling, a stronger agent, real workflow integrations, and a product that survives real operational use (not just a polished demo).The roleWe are hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer in San Francisco to own our early customer and pilot work in the field.You sit between the product and real users. Your job is to make Nightwave succeed in live investigations, then bring what you learn back so the product gets better fast.You will:Be first contact for pilots. Run clear technical conversations, set a steady cadence, and keep trust when the product is still early.Work inside the customer workflow. Watch how evidence comes in, how people actually investigate, where Zero helps, and where it fails. Drive concrete product changes from what you see (bugs, features, integrations, evals, UX).Embed with adopting teams. Learn who the real users and decision-makers are, what constraints matter (data, security, process), and what would make them switch. Feed that into product and go-to-market.You write code and you sit with users. Some weeks you ship a fix or connector. Some weeks you map a workflow or unblock a stuck pilot. Success looks like pilots that work, product changes that clearly came from the field, and customers who ask for you by name.What you will not doPure sales with a quota and no engineeringPure backend work with no customer contactCustomer support that cannot read a stack trace or open a pull requestRequirements3+ years in a forward deployed, solutions, implementation, founding engineering, or similar role that mixes customers and codeCan ship software in Python (APIs/data) and/or TypeScript/React (product UI)Proven ability to earn trust with demanding non-consumer users (ops, analysts, investigators, enterprise stakeholders, or similar)Clear written and spoken communicationComfortable with ambiguity and incomplete informationBased in San Francisco for hybrid work, including customer site visitsHigh discretion with sensitive workflows and unfinished productNice to haveBackground in investigations, intelligence, public safety, compliance, legal, or other high-stakes analysisExperience with LLM/agent products, evidence or retrieval systems, or complex data pipelinesStartup experience owning outcomes end to endCompensationPay is negotiated for strong candidates. Competitive San Francisco cash, plus equity and performance-based upside for people who clear a high bar. Details are shared in process with serious candidates. Benefits are competitive and finalized with the hire.How to applyUse LinkedIn Easy Apply. Incomplete applications are discarded.Also email admin@nightwave.ai with subject: Nightwave FDE SF - [Your Name]Include:A short note about a time you worked closely with users and changed the product because of itLinks to your work (GitHub, writing, talks)SF availability and work authorizationNightwave is an equal opportunity employer.