Forward Deployment Engineer - AI Solutions

The Role

Forward Deployed Engineers are Fooyo's tip of the spear. You own client engagements end-to-end: you sit with the client to understand their actual workflow — the inbox chaos, the Excel handoffs, the WhatsApp approvals — then architect, build, and deploy the AI system that replaces it. You'll ship agentic email automation, RAG-based knowledge bases, and workflow orchestration into production, and you'll be accountable for making them work in the real world, not just in a demo.

This role suits an engineer who wants ownership and client exposure early in their career — someone who's as comfortable whiteboarding with an operations manager as debugging a retrieval pipeline at 11pm before a pilot launch.

What You'll Do

Client-facing delivery

• Lead discovery sessions with clients to map existing business processes and identify automation opportunities
• Translate ambiguous business requirements into technical designs, scoped milestones, and delivery plans
• Run pilots, demos, and handover sessions; train client teams and gather feedback for iteration
• Serve as the technical point of contact through delivery — you own the outcome, not just the code

Engineering & deployment

• Design and build agentic AI workflows using orchestration platforms (n8n, Dify) — e.g., automated email intake, classification, quotation drafting, and routing
• Build and tune knowledge base / RAG systems: document ingestion, chunking, embeddings, vector search (Chroma or similar), retrieval evaluation, and access-controlled multi-tenant retrieval
• Integrate LLM APIs (Claude, Gemini, GPT, and open-weight models) with attention to cost, latency, and reliability tradeoffs — including model selection and per-transaction cost modeling
• Write the integration glue: REST APIs, webhooks, email/IMAP pipelines, and data transforms between client systems and AI pipelines
• Deploy, monitor, and harden solutions for production: Docker, Linux servers, cloud (GCP/AWS), logging, and failure recovery
• Document architectures and produce clean technical handoff specs

Beyond delivery

• Contribute to reusable internal tooling and deployment playbooks so each engagement gets faster
• Support pre-sales with technical feasibility assessments and PoC builds
• Occasionally travel regionally for client workshops or deployments

What We're Looking For

Must-have

• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or TypeScript/JavaScript
• Hands-on experience building with LLM APIs — RAG, agents, function calling, or workflow automation (professional or serious personal projects both count)
• Systems thinking: you can design a pipeline across email, databases, APIs, and LLM calls, and reason about where it breaks
• Excellent communication — you can present to a client's management team and write documentation their engineers can follow
• Self-directed and comfortable with ambiguity; you drive engagements forward without waiting for detailed specs

Nice-to-have

• Production experience with n8n, Dify, LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar frameworks
• Vector database experience (Chroma, Qdrant, pgvector) and retrieval evaluation
• DevOps fundamentals: Docker, CI/CD, GCP or AWS, on-prem/local-first deployment
• Bilingual English/Mandarin (many clients and documents are bilingual; Japanese a bonus)
• Experience in a consulting, agency, or client-facing engineering environment
• WeChat Mini Program or mobile/web full-stack experience

What We Offer

• Competitive salary + performance bonus tied to delivery outcomes
• Direct mentorship from the founder/CTO and real ownership of named client engagements from day one
• Breadth few roles offer: every 2–3 months brings a new industry, new problem, and new stack decision
• A track record you can point to — production AI systems running at recognizable brands
• Regional exposure across Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Europe, and the Middle East
• Small, senior, fast-moving team with zero bureaucracy

How to Apply

Send the following to [email protected] with the subject line "FDE — AI Solutions — [Your Name]":

1. Your CV
2. A short note on the most impactful thing you've shipped — what it did, who used it, and what you'd do differently
3. GitHub / portfolio link if available

We review on a rolling basis and move fast — first-round conversations typically happen within a week. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

About Fooyo

Fooyo is a Singapore-based AI engineering studio that designs and ships production AI systems for real businesses. We build agentic workflow automation, AI knowledge bases, and digital commerce platforms for clients across travel, logistics, F&B, retail, government, and smart tourism — with a client roster that includes KFC Singapore, Sentosa, Changi Airport Group, SimplyGo, and StarHub. Winner of the AI Trailblazer Innovation Award (2024, co-issued by Singapore's MCI, Smart Nation Singapore, and Google), and expanding across Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East.