Forward Deployed Engineer (AI)

Job Description:

Forward Deployed Engineer (AI)
Onsite - Fremont, California

This position is required to be onsite in Fremont, California, and remote work arrangements are not being considered for this role.

Position Summary

This role is responsible for partnering directly with business functions across the organization to identify, design, build, and deploy AI-powered solutions that improve productivity, automate business processes, and accelerate decision-making.

The ideal candidate is an engineer who enjoys solving real business problems, rapidly building prototypes, and delivering production-ready AI applications. This individual will embed with teams across Finance, Human Resources, Supply Chain, Operations, Sales, Engineering, Advanced R&D, Customer Support, and other functional areas to understand their workflows and implement practical AI solutions that create measurable business value.

This position requires a combination of software engineering, product thinking, and strong collaboration skills. The successful candidate will help drive enterprise AI adoption while establishing reusable patterns and best practices that scale across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

AI Solution Development

• Partner with business stakeholders to understand workflows, pain points, and opportunities for AI-enabled automation.

• Design, develop, test, and deploy AI-powered applications, assistants, agents, and workflow automations.

• Rapidly build proof-of-concepts and minimum viable products to validate business value.

• Iterate quickly based on user feedback and operational needs.

• Develop reusable components and implementation patterns that can be leveraged across multiple business functions.

Application Development & Integration

• Build full-stack applications using modern software development frameworks and AI technologies.

• Integrate AI solutions with enterprise platforms including Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Oracle, Salesforce, Jira, and other internal systems.

• Assist with deploying and supporting AI applications in cloud-based environments.

AI Platforms & Engineering

• Build solutions utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs), AI agents, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Model Context Protocol (MCP), and other emerging AI technologies.

• Evaluate AI applications for accuracy, reliability, usability, and business effectiveness.

• Stay current on advances in AI technologies and identify opportunities to introduce new capabilities into the organization.

• Contribute to enterprise AI standards, development practices, and reusable frameworks.

Collaboration & Business Partnership

• Embed within business functions to understand operational challenges and identify opportunities for AI transformation.

• Collaborate with functional areas to ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture and governance standards.

• Communicate technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Support user adoption through demonstrations, documentation, and knowledge sharing.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field.

• 0–3 years of professional software engineering or application development experience.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to manage complexity, take initiative in problem solving, and think critically under pressure.

• Experience building applications utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs), AI APIs, AI agents, or similar generative AI technologies through professional work, personal projects, research, or open-source contributions.

• Ability to quickly learn new technologies and adapt to evolving AI capabilities.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to work independently while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with OpenAI APIs, ChatGPT Enterprise, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Gemini, or similar enterprise AI platforms.

• Experience with agent frameworks such as OpenAI Agents SDK, LangGraph, CrewAI, or similar orchestration frameworks.

• Familiarity with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), vector databases, semantic search, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

• Experience with Azure, AWS, or GCP cloud platforms.

• Experience with Docker, GitHub, CI/CD pipelines, or Kubernetes.

• Experience developing internal productivity tools or workflow automation solutions.

• Contributions to open-source projects, hackathons, AI competitions, or personal AI projects that demonstrate technical curiosity and initiative.

What Success Looks Like

• High-value AI solutions are delivered that improve productivity and streamline business processes across multiple functional areas.

• AI applications are adopted by business teams and deliver measurable operational value.

• Reusable AI components, workflows, and engineering patterns accelerate future solution development.

• Business stakeholders view the engineer as a trusted technical partner for identifying and implementing AI opportunities.

• The organization continues to expand its AI capabilities through practical, scalable, and secure implementations.

Nextpower offers a comprehensive benefits package. We provide health care coverage, dental and vision, 401(K) participation including company matching, company paid holidays with unlimited paid time off, generous discretionary company bonuses, life and disability protection and more. Employees in certain positions may be eligible for stock compensation. All plans are in accordance with relevant plan documents. For more information on Nextpower’s benefits please view our company website at www.nextpower.com.   Pay is based on market location and may vary based on factors including experience, skills, education and other job-related reasons. The annual salary range for this position is $102,000-$115,000. This role is also eligible for bonus and equity as part of the total compensation package

At Nextpower, we are driving the global energy transition with an integrated clean energy technology platform that combines intelligent structural, electrical, and digital solutions for utility-scale power plants. Our comprehensive portfolio enables faster project delivery, higher performance, and greater reliability, helping our customers capture the full value of solar power. Our talented worldwide teams are redefining how solar power plants are designed, built, and operated every day with smart technology, data-driven insights, and advanced automation. Together, we’re building the foundation for the world’s next generation of clean energy infrastructure.

Nextpower is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.