Forward Deployed AI Engineer

About the Role

As the only physical AI unicorn headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, we go beyond models and dashboards — we deploy AI that continuously computes across supply chains, energy systems, and industrial operations. Our Operational Technology platform turns fragmented data into real-time, autonomous decisioning across the systems that power the global economy.

This is not digital AI. This is AI for operational reality — where latency, constraints, and failure have real-world consequences.

Forward Deployed AI Engineers at Avathon are rewiring how the physical world operates. You will work directly with customers to take the hardest operational problems — multi-echelon supply chains, constrained production systems, global logistics networks — and turn them into continuously computing, AI-led systems. You will design, build, and deploy production-grade AI applications that operate across real-world infrastructure where decisions propagate across thousands of nodes in real time.

Responsibilities

This role operates with the intensity and ownership of a founder in the field:

• Own end-to-end delivery of high-stakes deployments in operational environments
• Design and implement Avathon's Computational Knowledge Graph (CKG) that unifies data, constraints, and decisioning — performing continuous computation across physical networks
• Replace static planning workflows with real-time, autonomous execution applications
• Work side-by-side with operators, planners, and key stakeholders to define problems and deliver solutions
• Push systems into production that directly control and influence real-world operations
• Drive product evolution by feeding field learnings back into Avathon's core platform

Preferred Skills

• Experience building AI/ML applications in production
• Strong foundation in machine learning, optimization, and system design
• Exceptional inferencing skills on applying necessary models in the field
• Demonstrated proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, TypeScript/JavaScript, or similar
• Ability to reason complex, interconnected systems (supply chains, networks, infrastructure)
• Ability to move from problem to architecture to deployment without handoffs

We Value

• We value engineers who build systems and tune industrial models
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, pressure, and high-stakes environments
• Willingness to work directly with customers and operate in real-world environments
• Travel to customer sites (up to 50%)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering
• An active U.S. Government security clearance (preferred)
• Excellent problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future company sponsorship

Compensation & Benefits

• California Base Salary Range: $130,000 – $180,000 USD (based on experience)
• Equity in the form of stock options
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) participation
• Generous PTO and company holidays
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities

Location: Reporting out of Avathon’s HQ in Pleasanton (San Francisco Bay Area), California.