Forward Deployed Engineer

Customer Success Forward Deployed Engineer San Francisco, CA Full-time Description About the Role A Solutions Architect, internally titled a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, doesn't build generic capability for a broad market — they embed with one strategic customer and make the platform work inside that customer's actual environment, against that customer's real data, APIs, and constraints. That's this role. You'll be embedded onsite with the customer's security team, working directly out of their offices rather than through requirements documents and ticket handoffs. Your job is to close the gap between what the Zenity platform can do in the abstract and what the customer's team needs it to do inside their AI and data platforms and their broader environment. That means gathering requirements straight from the people using the product, designing and building solutions that fit their environment, integrating against the customer's own systems and identity patterns, and staying accountable for the outcome — not just the handoff. This is closer to running a security and engineering program inside the customer's organization than it is to shipping a roadmap feature. You'll operate with a lot of autonomy in a space where the playbook is still being written, and you'll be the one writing it. What You'll Actually Do Gather requirements in the field. Sit with the customer's security team directly — in their office, on their calls — to figure out what's actually blocking a deployment, not what a ticket says is blocking it. Customize and configure the solution for this customer's workflow, not the general market. If the customer's platforms need Zenity to behave differently than it does for anyone else, you make that happen. Integrate with the customer's own data, APIs, infrastructure, and identity/access patterns. You're working inside their systems, not asking them to adapt to yours. Test, troubleshoot, and iterate alongside the customer — sometimes live, with stakeholders watching and a fix expected before the call ends. Feed what you learn back into the core product. When you build the same workaround twice, that's a signal the platform is missing something. You're the mechanism by which the field changes the roadmap, not just a consumer of it. Own the outcome end to end — from the first ambiguous ask through to a deployment that's actually working and staying that way. Lead the customer in best practices for a category that's still being defined. AI agent security doesn't have an established playbook yet — you're often the one bringing structure and precedent to the customer's team. Partner closely with the account's Customer Success Manager to make sure that guidance lands consistently, from initial rollout through ongoing maturity. Core Requirements of the Role Deployment support. Support the customer's infrastructure teams in deploying Zenity's new features (e.g., Outpost, Azure AI Foundry) alongside the customer's engineering teams across India and the US. Testing & validation. Support the customer's team in testing and validating Zenity's new detections across new platforms — Azure AI Foundry, Fabric, and LLM features — inside the customer's tenants, ensuring full execution context is available for analysis. Technical translation & advocacy. Translate the customer's observations, needs, and troubleshooting findings into precise, reproducible engineering detail — surfacing the right resource types, telemetry, and execution context so Zenity engineering can act without repeated round-trips — and advocate for the customer's requirements and priorities in Zenity's roadmap. Security investigations. Lead security investigations arising from validation efforts, create and manage associated security incidents, and drive them through to resolution. Single point of contact & liaison. Serve as the primary point of contact and liaison between the customer's team and Zenity for all support issues raised during testing — coordinating timely closure of bugs, stories, and incidents. Cadence & accountability. Run weekly sync meetings with the customer and Zenity teams to review open issues, track progress, and ensure accountability through to closure. What You’ll Do Requirements What We're Looking For Strong technical fundamentals first. You're comfortable designing and configuring solutions hands-on; this is a technical role, not a sales or consulting role wearing an engineering title. Comfort with ambiguity. The customer won't hand you a clean spec. You'll be the one imposing structure on a vague, high-stakes problem. Customer-facing engineering experience — Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Professional Services Engineering, or Technical Consulting. A track record of building, not just maintaining — systems, integrations, or relationships. Genuine comfort being the technical face of Zenity onsite, day to day, inside a partner's building. Background in cybersecurity, cloud security, governance, or enterprise SaaS, and ideally hands‑on exposure to the customer's core productivity, AI, and data platforms. Experience building AI-powered applications, agentic systems, or AI governance tooling. Startup or high‑growth experience, and the instinct to move fast without a mature playbook. Strong communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders — you'll go from a working session with the security team to explaining a tradeoff to a non-technical leader in the same day. What We Look For At Zenity Why This Role Exists Complex platforms don't sell themselves into production — they stall the moment they meet a real customer's data, security posture, and undocumented processes. That's the gap Forward Deployed Engineering closes, and at Zenity it means embedding with one of our most strategic partners to make AI agent security actually work inside their infrastructure, not just in a demo. Help define the emerging category of AI security and governance. Work embedded with one of our most strategic partners. Solve genuinely hard problems at the frontier of AI adoption. Shape both customer success and product direction — your fieldwork feeds the roadmap. Join a world‑class team building the future of secure AI. Interview Process Recruiter Interview Hiring Manager Interview Director of Engineering Interview CRO interview Final interview with the customer team Zenity is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We enable enterprises to adopt AI agents securely and at scale, and that starts with building a team that reflects a wide range of perspectives and experiences. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where talented people can do their best work, securely, confidently, and with impact. Compensation The base salary range for this role is $190,000 to $220,000. Final offer within the range depends on experience, skills, and interview performance. This role also includes equity and Zenity's full benefits package. 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