Forward Deployed Engineering Manager

About Applied Intuition

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co .

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments.

Applied Intuition

In this role, you will build and lead an elite team of engineers tackling some of the most challenging technical problems for our customers. FDEs work directly with customer engineering teams to integrate Applied’s platform, develop custom capabilities and deliver solutions that accelerate autonomy development. In the process, they help translate real-world engineering challenges into product improvements, new platform capabilities, and repeatable workflows that benefit the broader ecosystem.

Operating at the intersection of product, engineering, and customer delivery, this team plays a critical role in ensuring customers successfully deploy and scale Applied’s platform. As the manager, you will drive technical execution across high-impact engagements while building a culture of engineering excellence, ownership, and customer impact.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Build, lead and grow a team of Forward Deployed Engineers delivering complex technical solutions for Applied’s most strategic customers


• Own delivery of customer engagements, including platform integrations, custom development, and deployment in production engineering environments


• Work directly with customer engineering teams to solve difficult autonomy development challenges and unblock critical workflows


• Drive high technical standards across the team in system design, debugging, and software quality


• Translate customer problems into scalable solutions, partnering with Product and Engineering to turn custom work into product capabilities


• Identify repeatable patterns from deployments and help build playbooks that scale across customers


• Collaborate with Sales and Solutions Engineering to scope complex engagements and support strategic customer relationships

We're looking for someone who has:

• 5+ years of experience in forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or software engineering roles working directly with customers


• Bachelors degree in computer science or engineering related field


• Proficiency in AI developer tools like Cursor or Claude Code, Python, C++, or similar systems languages


• Experience managing engineers delivering complex technical projects


• Strong technical background in software development, distributed systems, or infrastructure


• Experience leading customer-facing engineering engagements involving system integration and custom development

Nice to have:

• Experience with autonomy development, robotics, or simulation platforms


• Background working with automotive OEMs, defense organizations, or robotics companies


• Experience building custom tooling or infrastructure in customer environments

Autonomy is one of the leading technological advances of this century that will come to impact our lives. The work you’ll do at Applied will meaningfully accelerate the efforts of the top autonomy teams in the world. At Applied, you will have a unique perspective on the development of cutting edge technology while working with major players across the industry and the globe. 

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Please reference the job posting’s subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the location listed is: $180,000 - $240,000 USD annually. 

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.