Overview
A position that uses AI technology to lead everything from solving customer problems to deployment and operation. An FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer) works deep inside the customer's site with AI and software technology, and drives the work from finding and solving problems through deployment and operation, on both the technical and the business side.
After understanding the customer's operations and problems, you design and develop the systems and solutions they need and maximize the value delivered through AI. Rather than being only a developer, you bridge customers and the development team, and lead projects to success through technology.
As the lead of customer projects that solve problems with AI and LLM technology, you take a deep look at customers' business problems and handle everything from designing the best AI solution and building prototypes to driving its adoption. You bring AI adoption to success with problem-finding, project leadership and customer communication skills as well as technical ability.
Responsibilities
- Implementing AI models, designing system architecture and developing applications
- Leading the development team (including contract engineers), reviewing code and choosing technologies
- Researching the latest technologies (LLM, RAG, CV, etc.) and applying them to products
- Designing solutions that fit the customer's environment and business requirements
- Organizing business problems through dialogue with customers and turning them into system requirements
- Defining project scope, creating WBS, and managing progress and quality
- Running projects with profitability in mind
- Proposing improvements and providing ongoing support to deliver results with AI
- Building long-term customer relationships and increasing LTV
What makes this role rewarding
- Turning cutting-edge AI into real business valueYou gain experience applying fast-evolving technologies such as LLMs and AI agents to solve real business problems.
- Creating value from both engineering and businessBeyond implementation, you are involved from finding customer problems to adoption and results, building the full-stack problem-solving skills the AI era calls for.
- A fast development cycle unique to the AI eraUsing AI coding tools and more, you move from validating ideas to building prototypes at overwhelming speed.
- Freedom to take on AI use across many industriesRather than developing one specific product, you build the best AI solutions while working on problems in a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, finance and healthcare.
Requirements
- Experience implementing web applications or AI systems with Python or similar (3+ years)
- Vibe coding ability (fast implementation and validation using AI coding tools)
- In addition, one of the following (3+ years)Upstream work as a systems engineer (requirements definition, external design), or equivalent knowledge / communicating with customers on contract system development projects / project management of IT projects, such as task and schedule management
Preferred qualifications
- Experience as a project manager or team lead
- Experience developing and operating real services that use machine learning (LLM, image recognition, etc.)
- Experience in proposal sales or consulting for contract development
- Experience in team management or managing partners (outsourcing)
- Development experience on clouds such as AWS, GCP or Azure
- Experience participating in data analysis competitions such as Kaggle
- PMP (Project Management Professional) or JDLA Deep Learning for GENERAL (G-Kentei) certification
Ideal candidate
- Balances a developer's attention to craft with the profitability of the business
- Draws out true needs from dialogue with clients and makes proposals ahead of them
- Becomes a trusted advisor to clients through careful communication
- Is interested not only in building things but in growing the customer's business
- Finds what needs to be done on your own instead of waiting for instructions
- Communicates well with members in every role across the organization
- Takes responsibility and sees things through to the end
Job conditions
- Employment type
- Full-time
- Salary
- Expected annual salary: 9,000,000–15,000,000 yen
- Location
- Remote, or the head office (Frontier Hongo I 6-A, 2-27-17 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo (about a 2-minute walk from Hongo-sanchome Station))
- You can work from anywhere in Japan. Even when working mainly remotely, plenty of communication happens on tools such as Slack and Notion.
- Working hours
- 9:00–18:00 (negotiable)
- Programs
- Bonus once a year
- Stock options available
- In-house 1-on-1 program
- Book purchase and study-session participation support
- Opportunities to write books, and support for presenting at international conferences and academic societies
Apply for this position
The application form asks for your basic information, education and work history, public work, and motivation.