Senior Forward Deployed Engineer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Oct 29, 2026. First seen by Alion on Oct 8, 2026.
About Refractal
Refractal is an AI security company building the infrastructure organisations need to defend against autonomous AI threats. 2026 has shown that generally capable intelligence is here. The challenge now is modernising security to stop AI-enabled threats, whether they come from internal agents going rogue or from attackers using AI to become more dangerous.
Refractal was founded on cybersecurity and AI expertise from MIT, Microsoft, NASA and the U.S. Navy. Our product lets organisations detect AI-enabled threats at low cost without sacrificing detection quality. We take a practical approach to AI risk, combining proven cybersecurity methods with frontier AI security research.
Today, we work with governments and organisations that can't afford to get security wrong. We're backed by leading deep-tech and cybersecurity investors and are growing the team to deliver on this mission.
The role
As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll lead Refractal deployments for organisations across Europe, including in the public sector. You'll work inside customers' security, risk and AI teams to get Refractal running in their environments, and feed what you learn back into the product.
What you'll do
Lead technical deployments from first integration to production, with clear plans, owners and success criteria.
Integrate Refractal with customers' AI agents, copilots, models and security tooling.
Translate customer policies and regulatory requirements into enforceable controls.
Run technical discovery, demonstrations and evaluations with the founders.
Build connectors and reference implementations, and ship fixes into the core product.
Success in your first six months
You've taken customer deployments into production that customers rely on day to day.
Recurring deployment work has become reusable connectors, scripts and documentation.
Product and engineering decisions reflect what you've learned in the field.
About you: essential
5+ years in software engineering, including 2+ in customer-facing roles such as forward deployed, solutions or technical consulting.
Strong Python, and confidence across APIs, cloud and identity.
Hands-on experience building with LLMs and AI agents.
Calm, clear communication with senior stakeholders and engineers.
Willingness to travel to customer sites across Europe.
Nice to have
A background in security or regulated industries.
Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian or Croatian.
Our values
Radical transparency. We believe the best work happens when everyone feels able to give and receive honest, constructive feedback.
Public service. We see AI security as a form of public service. Getting the AI transition right means putting the right infrastructure in place to manage the threats that come with it, and our work helps protect the institutions and services society depends on.
Fail fast. We test ideas early, seek feedback and learn quickly. We experiment rapidly and change course when something isn't working, without compromising on security.
Pragmatism, not dogmatism. We choose approaches based on how well they solve the problem. That means combining established cybersecurity methods with frontier AI research, questioning our assumptions, and changing our minds when the evidence changes.
Compensation and benefits
Salary: €40,000-€95,000 gross per year
Competitive equity to share in Refractal's growth
Pension contribution
Private medical and dental cover
Visa and relocation support