Forward Deployed Engineer

Nectar•Palo Alto, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing. They build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate. At Nectar, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides. Our AI agents listen in real time, surface actionable insights, attribute engagement to revenue, and turn conversations into conversions. Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we work with brands like OLIPOP, Hatch, K18, Little Spoon, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce, where community, conversation, and commerce converge. The Role As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you'll be the technical bridge between Nectar's platform and our most strategic enterprise customers. You'll own end-to-end technical success from initial deployment through production optimization. This is a hybrid role combining deep technical execution with customer partnership. You'll ship real solutions, not slide decks. Think of it like being a startup CTO embedded with our biggest customers: you'll work in small, agile teams, own high-stakes projects end-to-end, and have direct impact on both customer outcomes and product direction.

Requirements

3+ years software engineering experience, ideally in customer-facing or platform roles
Strong TypeScript skills; experience with APIs, data pipelines, and system integrations
Experience with LLMs, AI agents, or ML systems in production environments
Excellent communication skills; comfortable presenting to executives and pairing with engineers
Startup mentality: high ownership, bias toward action, comfortable with ambiguity
Willingness to travel (up to 25%) to customer sites

Nice To Haves

Prior FDE, Solutions Engineer, or Technical Consultant experience
Experience with Shopify, commerce workflows, or e-commerce integrations

Responsibilities

Own enterprise deployments end-to-end: Lead technical implementation for strategic accounts from pilot through production, ensuring rapid time-to-value
Build custom integrations: Design and implement integrations with customer systems (CRMs, CDPs, e-commerce platforms, Shopify, social platform APIs)
Configure and optimize AI agents: Tune our AI agents for customer-specific workflows, brand voice, and use cases
Drive product roadmap: Translate field learnings into product improvements; identify patterns that should become platform features
Partner with GTM: Support sales cycles with technical expertise; help close deals by demonstrating technical feasibility and scoping implementations
Embed with customers: Spend time on-site understanding their workflows, pain points, and opportunities