Forward-Deployed Engineer

About Kilvin

Kilvin is an AI-native software agency that builds custom internal tools for non-technical teams. We deliver everything through our platform: a shared workspace for our clients to access and interact with their software. We believe strongly in the principle of personal software: technology purpose-built for the individual, and that AI-enabled software generation provides the greatest opportunity to bring personal software to the masses.

Founded by Chris and Jorrie - MIT CS grads and former Googlers.

The role

Our clients are operators, not engineers. What makes Kilvin work well is the tight loop between understanding what a client actually needs and shipping software that does it - quickly. As a Forward-Deployed Engineer, you'll own that loop end to end.

You'll be the face of Kilvin for a portfolio of clients: running discovery, extracting real requirements from messy workflows, and translating them into working software through a rapid prototype → feedback → implement cycle. You'll build with our AI-assisted development pipeline, demo early and often, and stay with your clients after launch - owning ongoing managed services that keep their tools running and improving.

This is a hybrid role by design: part engineer, part consultant, part product manager.

What you'll work on

• Client discovery & requirements - sitting down with non-technical teams in industries like healthcare, finance, and operations, understanding how they actually work and what drives success, and turning "we need a tool for X" into a clear, buildable spec with measurable outcomes.

• The prototype → feedback → implement loop - shipping working prototypes within days, walking clients through them live, incorporating feedback, and iterating until the clients’ needs have been met.

• Managed services delivery - our AI-assisted development pipeline is what drives efficiency for our managed services - you’ll be expected to identify opportunities for improvement in that pipeline, then design and deliver solutions for them.

• Owning client relationships - being your clients' primary point of contact from kickoff through launch and beyond. You'll drive adoption, spot opportunities for new tools, and be the reason clients expand with us.

What we're looking for

• 3+ years building and shipping production software, ideally full-stack.
• Experience with client-facing work. You’ve worked directly with clients to identify product requirements and deliver them in end-to-end engagements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication. You can explain a technical tradeoff to an office manager and a schema decision to an engineer.
• Experience with (or strong enthusiasm for) AI-assisted development workflows. Our delivery speed depends on them.
• A bias toward shipping. You're energized by a fast build-test-iterate loop and real users, not by long specs.

Nice to have

• Experience in a client-facing engineering role: forward-deployed engineer, solutions engineer, consulting, or agency work.
• Background in regulated domains (healthcare, finance) and the compliance that comes with them.
• Experience at an early-stage startup or as an early/founding engineer.

Our stack

We care more about strong engineers who are comfortable with AI-assisted development workflows; if you've gone deep somewhere adjacent, we want to talk.

• We work in TypeScript end to end, maintaining a single monorepo spanning frontend, backend, and CLI tooling.
• Our frontend is React; the backend is Node.js services on Express, talking to PostgreSQL through Prisma.
• Auth and sessions run on a modern auth library, and the whole platform is deployed to AWS, with infrastructure managed as code in Terraform.
• Our build-and-deploy pipeline leans heavily on modern LLM tooling to turn requirements into working software.

Logistics

• Location: Remote within the US. We have a strong preference for candidates in or near NYC, Denver, or Philadelphia for periodic in-person collaboration.

• Compensation: Competitive salary plus meaningful early-stage equity. We offer health benefits through a QSEHRA: a tax-free monthly reimbursement toward your health insurance premiums and qualified medical expenses. We're happy to discuss specifics early in the process.

• Intro call (~20 min). A quick conversation with one of our founders to get to know each other, walk through the role, and answer your questions.

• Technical interview (~45 min). Technical design discussion with our CTO and Principal Software Engineer.

• Group discussion (~60 min). A conversation with the whole team. We’ll get into how we work with clients, your approach to working with AI, and make sure Kilvin is the right fit for both sides.

• Decision. We move fast - you'll hear back quickly, with an offer if it's a match.