Forward Deployed Engineer - London (Spanish-speaking)
Forward Deployed Engineer · Senior · Full Time
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Role
What you'll do.
As a Forward Deployed Engineer at OpenAI's London office, you will lead end-to-end production deployments of frontier AI models with strategic enterprise customers, bridging research breakthroughs and real-world impact. This role demands ownership across discovery, technical architecture, full-stack development, and production rollout while partnering with customer teams and OpenAI's research, product, and platform organizations. You'll combine hands-on engineering expertise with customer advocacy, translating deployment challenges into product improvements and model innovations that shape OpenAI's strategic roadmap.
Responsibilities
- End-to-End Deployment Ownership: Lead complete lifecycle ownership of multiple concurrent production deployments for strategic enterprise customers, from initial discovery and prototype development through stable production operations, including architecture design, full-stack implementation, and continuous optimization
- Technical Discovery and Scoping: Conduct detailed technical discovery with customer stakeholders to understand business objectives, technical constraints, and success metrics; scope work thoughtfully to balance ambition with realistic delivery timelines, adjusting plans proactively to protect commitments
- Full-Stack System Development: Design and implement complete system architectures that integrate OpenAI's frontier models with customer infrastructure, writing production-grade code across frontend, backend, APIs, and infrastructure layers while maintaining code quality, performance, and security standards
- Customer Technical Partnership: Embed closely with customer engineering teams throughout deployment, serving as technical liaison between OpenAI and customer organizations; guide adoption of deployed systems, provide hands-on training, and ensure customer teams understand how to operate and extend the solutions
- Scope and Quality Trade-offs: Make deliberate trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality aligned with delivery objectives; sequence work to achieve measurable milestones, remove blockers early, and maintain momentum without sacrificing production stability or customer success
- Production Code Contribution: Contribute directly in the codebase as needed when progress depends on technical clarity or execution, ensuring critical paths are unblocked and maintaining hands-on engineering credibility with customers and internal teams
- Operational Patterns and Tooling: Codify successful deployment patterns, customer workflows, and operational best practices into reusable playbooks, tools, building blocks, and documentation that enable future deployments to move faster and reduce risk for the broader Forward Deployed Engineering team
- Product and Research Feedback Loop: Continuously collect and synthesize field feedback from customer deployments regarding model performance, behavior, limitations, and user needs; communicate findings to Research and Product teams in ways that inform model development and product roadmap prioritization
- Team Alignment and Leadership: Keep teams moving through clear communication, reliable follow-through on commitments, and calm judgment when stakes are high; bridge perspectives between customer teams, product organizations, research groups, and engineering colleagues to maintain alignment on objectives and execution
- Risk Identification and Mitigation: Spot technical, delivery, and operational risks early in the deployment lifecycle; propose mitigation strategies and adjust plans without slowing momentum, ensuring customer success and production reliability even as requirements evolve
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Full-Stack Development
Proficiency in both frontend and backend development using Python, JavaScript, or comparable modern programming stacks
API Design and Integration
Experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs, managing integrations, and building scalable service architectures
Cloud Infrastructure
Practical experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Google Cloud, including compute, storage, and networking services
Database Design
Understanding of relational and non-relational database design, optimization, and query performance tuning
DevOps and Deployment
Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines, and production deployment automation
LLM Integration Architecture
Technical proficiency in integrating, prompting, and optimizing large language models for production use cases
Multilingual Communication
Professional fluency in both Spanish and English, essential for supporting Spanish-speaking enterprise customers and internal collaboration
Education
Computer Science or Related Field
Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in software engineering, computer science, or related technical discipline
Experience
6+ Years of Engineering Experience
Demonstrated track record in software engineering or technical deployment roles with significant customer-facing and production delivery experience
Complex System Delivery
Proven ability to scope, architect, and deliver complex, mission-critical systems in fast-moving, ambiguous, or high-pressure environments with cross-functional teams
Large Language Model Deployment
Hands-on experience building, deploying, or integrating systems powered by LLMs or generative models with understanding of how model behavior impacts product performance and user experience
Production Code Ownership
Full-stack development and code review expertise across frontend and backend systems, capable of writing and maintaining production-grade code
Customer-Facing Technical Leadership
Experience working directly with customers, translating business requirements into technical solutions, and guiding adoption through clear communication and technical guidance
Technical Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
Track record of simplifying complexity, making fast and sound decisions under pressure, and balancing trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality in evolving requirements
Skills
Required
Production System Ownership
End-to-end responsibility for complex production deployments from prototyping through stable operations, including monitoring, incident response, and continuous optimization
Full-Stack Development
Ability to write, review, and maintain production-grade code across frontend and backend layers using Python, JavaScript, or similar modern technology stacks
Generative AI Expertise
Deep understanding of LLM behavior, model integration, prompt optimization, and how model capabilities and limitations affect deployed system performance
Technical Scoping and Planning
Capability to break down complex, ambiguous requirements into manageable technical scope, create realistic delivery roadmaps, and identify risks early
Customer Technical Leadership
Excellence in partnering directly with customer engineering and domain teams, translating needs into solutions, and guiding adoption with clarity and follow-through
Bilingual Communication
Professional-level fluency in Spanish and English for customer engagement, cross-cultural communication, and technical documentation
Decision-Making Under Pressure
Demonstrated ability to make sound technical and prioritization decisions rapidly when requirements are evolving, stakes are high, and uncertainty is present
System Design Architecture
Capability to design scalable, resilient system architectures that balance performance, reliability, and maintainability for production environments
Stakeholder Management
Skill in keeping cross-functional teams aligned and moving forward through clear communication, transparency about trade-offs, and reliable execution
Preferred
Enterprise SaaS Deployment Experience
Nice to haveBackground deploying mission-critical systems for large enterprise customers with complex security, compliance, and performance requirements
AI/ML Infrastructure
Nice to haveExperience with machine learning operations, model serving infrastructure, experiment tracking, and evaluation frameworks
Security and Compliance
Nice to haveWorking knowledge of enterprise security practices, data governance, compliance frameworks, and secure deployment patterns
Advanced Prompt Engineering
Nice to haveExpertise in designing sophisticated prompts, managing prompt templates at scale, and optimizing LLM outputs for specific domains
Technical Content and Knowledge Transfer
Nice to haveExperience documenting technical patterns, creating playbooks, building internal tools, and establishing repeatable processes that multiply team impact
Global Team Collaboration
Nice to haveTrack record working effectively across time zones and cultures in distributed, fast-moving organizations
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·GBP 150,000 – 220,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Equity and Stock Options
Competitive stock option grants aligned with role seniority, providing ownership stake in OpenAI and long-term value creation participation
Comprehensive Health Coverage
Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans covering employee and eligible dependents with competitive premium sharing
Retirement and Pension
Participation in pension schemes or retirement savings programs with employer matching contributions for long-term financial planning
Relocation Assistance
Comprehensive support for international relocation to London, including visa sponsorship, temporary housing, and relocation logistics
Professional Development
Learning budgets, conference attendance, courses, and training opportunities to develop technical and leadership capabilities in emerging AI technologies
Hybrid Work Model
Flexible arrangement with 3 days required in London office per week, enabling work-life balance and distributed collaboration
Paid Time Off
Generous vacation, sick leave, and public holiday policies supporting employee wellbeing and work-life integration
Travel Benefits
Support for up to 50% travel requirements to customer sites, including travel planning, expense reimbursement, and logistical assistance
Wellness Programs
Mental health support, fitness stipends, wellness resources, and employee assistance programs promoting holistic wellbeing
Parental Leave
Competitive parental leave policies for new parents to support family planning and work-life balance
Full posting
Original listing.
About the team
OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems. We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development.
About the role
Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) lead complex end-to-end deployments of frontier models in production alongside our most strategic customers. You will own discovery, technical scoping, system design, build, and production rollout, partnering directly with customer engineering and domain teams.
You will measure success through production adoption, measurable workflow impact, and eval-driven feedback that changes product and model roadmaps. You’ll work closely with our Product, Research, Partnerships, GRC, Security, and GTM teams.
This role is based in London. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week. We offer relocation assistance. Travel up to 50% is required.
In this role you will
Own technical delivery across multiple deployments from first prototype to stable production
Build full-stack systems that deliver customer value and sharpen how we learn
Embed closely with customer teams, understand their needs, and guide adoption of what you build
Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers early
Make trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality; adjust plans to protect delivery
Contribute directly in the code when progress or clarity depends on it
Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, or building blocks that others can use
Share field feedback that helps Research and Product understand where the models succeed and where they can improve
Keep teams moving through clarity and follow-through
You might thrive in this role if you
Bring 6+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience that includes customer-facing work
Professional fluency in Spanish and English is required, as this role supports Spanish-speaking customers
Have scoped and delivered complex systems in fast-moving or ambiguous environments
Write and review production-grade code across frontend and backend using Python, JavaScript, or comparable stacks
Have built or deployed systems powered by LLMs or generative models and understand how model behaviour affects product experience
Simplify complexity and make fast, sound decisions under pressure
Communicate clearly with engineers, product teams, and customer stakeholders
Spot risks early and adjust without slowing down
Model calm and judgment when the stakes are high
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.
Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.
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