AI Engineer - Forward Deployed
Edison Scientific · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $275,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Embedded AI Engineer role at a scientific discovery company.
- Own integrations and value creation for pharma/biotech clients.
- Develop and deploy LLM-powered AI agents in production.
- Collaborate with scientists and internal engineering teams.
- High autonomy, impact, and growth potential.
About the role
About Edison Scientific
Edison Scientific builds and commercializes AI agents for science. Scientific discovery moves too slowly, and autonomous AI agents are how we intend to fix that. We're assembling a team of top researchers and engineers across AI and biology to build an AI scientist.
Role
As a Forward Deployed AI Engineer, you'll be embedded directly with leading scientific R&D organizations across pharma and biotech – taking full ownership of how Edison's AI agents create value in their environment. You will deeply understand their science, their workflows, and their pain points, then determine where our platform can have the most impact.
This isn't remote support or implementation consulting. You'll be on-site and on the front lines, owning integrations, reliability, relationship cadence, and the product feedback loop end to end. You will build relationships with scientists and research leaders, identify the highest-leverage problems, and ship solutions quickly. You'll operate with a high degree of independence and serve as the bridge between what our platform can do and what the customer needs it to do, feeding insights back to our product and engineering teams to shape the roadmap. While we don’t require you to have a scientific background, we expect our engineers to be deeply curious about science and to be excited to build and drive value for our partners.
Responsibilities
- Translate complex scientific and operational requirements into a clear delivery roadmap, from initial discovery through scaled production deployment.
- Be embedded with R&D teams, understand their research workflows deeply, and drive & own the value creation that Edison delivers to our partners.
- Map the customer's scientific and operational landscape to identify where AI agents can have the most impact – not just where they ask for help, but where the real leverage is.
- Design, implement, and iterate on production-ready integrations in fast cycles, often owning features end-to-end from architecture to rollout.
- Troubleshoot and debug issues in real time, ensure reliability and adoption, and be the go-to technical contact for AI within the client organization.
- Capture pain points, unmet needs, and product gaps and work with our internal Applied AI and engineering teams to shape future capabilities.
- Partner with GTM and account executives to scope engagements, define success metrics, and support pre-sales technical evaluation.
Requirements
- 2+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a track record of shipping production-grade software in fast-paced or ambiguous environments.
- Strong proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript/JavaScript with deep fundamentals
- Hands-on experience building and deploying LLM-powered or agentic AI systems in production environments, including prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, model evaluation, and orchestration frameworks.
- AI fluency: able to reason through systems architecture, debug at the infrastructure level, and write clean production code independently (without reliance on AI-assisted coding tools).
- Comfortable with 20-40% travel (at peak times), operating independently, making decisions with incomplete information, and driving outcomes without close oversight.
- Proven problem-solving skills, navigating complex systems, debugging issues in real-time, and owning features end-to-end.
- Strong communication and relationship-building skills – able to earn trust with scientists, executives, and engineering teams.
- Deep curiosity and willingness to learn new scientific domains quickly and adapt to rapidly evolving priorities.
- Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field; or equivalent demonstrated depth through professional experience.
Bonus Points For
- Experience in life sciences, pharma, biotech, or scientific R&D – either as a researcher, consultant, or engineer working in these environments.
- Familiarity with regulated data environments (GxP, HIPAA, 21 CFR Part 11, or equivalent compliance frameworks)
- Background as a technical founder, forward-deployed engineer, or management consultant.
- A science degree or research experience alongside your engineering skills.
Why join us?
- Competitive salary and equity
- Full healthcare coverage — we pay 100% of premiums for you and your dependents
- Support for growing families, including a yearly new parent stipend and fertility coverage through Carrot
- 401(k) company matching
- $300 health and wellness benefit
- Lunch is on us every day you're in the office, and dinner is on us when you're working late
- Regular team offsites and company events
- A fast-moving, mission-driven culture where smart people do their best work and actually enjoy doing it
Edison Scientific is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
Key skills/competency
- AI Engineer
- Forward Deployed Engineer
- Python
- TypeScript
- LLM
- Agentic AI
- RAG
- Prompt Engineering
- Software Engineering
- Scientific R&D
Skills & topics
- AI Engineer
- Machine Learning Engineer
- LLM Engineer
- Python
- TypeScript
- Agentic AI
- RAG
- Prompt Engineering
- Software Engineer
- Biotech
- Pharma
- Scientific R&D
- Forward Deployed Engineer
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience with Python/TypeScript, LLM deployment, and production software engineering.
- Showcase AI fluency: Emphasize your ability to debug infrastructure and write production code independently.
- Demonstrate client-facing skills: Provide examples of relationship building and translating complex needs.
- Highlight scientific curiosity: Express enthusiasm for learning new scientific domains and driving value for partners.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss system architecture, debugging, and AI agent design.
Technical preparation
Master Python or TypeScript for AI development.,Build and deploy LLM-powered applications.,Practice prompt engineering and RAG pipeline implementation.,Develop independent debugging and system architecture skills.
Behavioral questions
Describe a time you worked independently.,How do you handle ambiguity and incomplete information?,Share an example of building client relationships.,How do you translate complex requirements into action?
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary responsibility of an AI Engineer at Edison Scientific?
- As an AI Engineer at Edison Scientific, your primary responsibility is to be embedded with leading scientific R&D organizations, taking ownership of how Edison's AI agents create value in their specific environments. This involves deeply understanding their science and workflows, identifying high-impact areas for AI integration, and driving the successful deployment and adoption of AI solutions.
- What technical skills are essential for an AI Engineer at Edison Scientific?
- Essential technical skills include strong proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript/JavaScript, with hands-on experience building and deploying LLM-powered or agentic AI systems in production. This encompasses prompt engineering, RAG pipelines, model evaluation, and orchestration frameworks. AI fluency, including systems architecture reasoning and infrastructure-level debugging, is also crucial.
- Does Edison Scientific require a scientific background for their AI Engineers?
- While a scientific background is not strictly required, Edison Scientific highly values deep curiosity about science. Engineers are expected to be excited about learning new scientific domains quickly and adapting to the specific needs of their partners in the pharma and biotech industries.
- What is the expected travel for an AI Engineer role at Edison Scientific?
- AI Engineers should be comfortable with 20-40% travel, particularly at peak times. This travel is necessary to be on-site with clients, deeply understand their operations, and ensure successful integration and adoption of Edison's AI agents.
- How does Edison Scientific foster learning and development for its AI Engineers?
- Edison Scientific offers a fast-moving, mission-driven culture where smart people work together. The role itself provides opportunities to learn new scientific domains quickly. Additionally, the company supports professional growth through team offsites, company events, and by encouraging engineers to actively shape the product roadmap based on their on-the-ground insights.
- What kind of impact can an AI Engineer have at Edison Scientific?
- An AI Engineer at Edison Scientific has a significant impact by directly driving value creation for leading scientific organizations. You will be at the forefront of applying AI to accelerate scientific discovery, owning solutions from architecture to rollout and directly influencing the product roadmap through your customer interactions and technical expertise.