Forward Deployed Engineer

About the Role

This is a customer-embedded engineering role at an early-stage AI startup building purpose-built automation tools for the sea and air freight industry. You will sit at the intersection of logistics operations and product engineering, translating real customer workflows into reliable, production-grade systems. The role carries significant ownership and directly shapes both the product and the company's trajectory.

What You'll Do

• Partner directly with logistics teams to understand operational workflows and translate their needs into system and product design.
• Build AI-powered full-stack tools using Node.js and TypeScript across a live production environment.
• Integrate with enterprise ecosystems including ERP systems, transport management systems, SFTP, and event queues.
• Construct reliable data pipelines to handle messy, unstructured, real-world data from multiple sources.
• Contribute to product direction and technical decisions alongside a small founding engineering team.
• Travel regularly to key customer sites across Europe and Asia to maintain close working relationships.
• Own outcomes end-to-end, from system design through deployment and iteration.

What We're Looking For

• 3 or more years of experience building full-stack applications or backend systems in production environments.
• Strong proficiency in TypeScript and Node.js; React or another modern frontend framework is a plus.
• Proven experience designing and integrating with enterprise systems such as ERPs, TMSs, and external APIs.
• Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure tools such as Docker, Terraform, GCP, or AWS.
• Experience building and scaling backend infrastructure and handling data pipelines from disparate sources.
• Comfort working directly with end-users and non-technical stakeholders to gather requirements and validate solutions.
• Ability and willingness to work hybrid from Berlin and travel regularly to customer sites in Europe and Asia.
• Familiarity with GenAI or LLM architectures, such as RAG, evals, or orchestration, is a bonus.
• Background in logistics, supply chain, or operations domains is a plus.
• Thrives in early-stage, high-autonomy environments with a bias toward shipping quickly and iterating.

Location

Berlin, Germany. Hybrid working arrangement, with regular travel to customer sites across Europe and Asia.