Forward Deployed Engineer

About ShipBob

ShipBob is a leading global supply chain and fulfillment technology platform designed for SMB and Mid-Market ecommerce merchants to provide them access to best-in-class capabilities and to deliver a delightful shopper experience. Merchants can outsource their entire fulfillment operations, utilize ShipBob’s proprietary warehouse management system for in-house fulfillment, or take advantage of a hybrid solution across ShipBob’s dozens of fulfillment center network in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. ShipBob is backed by leading investors like Menlo Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and is one of the fastest-growing tech companies headquartered in Chicago.

ShipBob provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Our Culture at ShipBob

At ShipBob, we champion continuous learning and proactive innovation, encouraging team members to identify challenges and take ownership of initiatives that drive merchant, company, and personal growth. We value collaboration, transparency, and mutual respect, fostering an environment where team members and leaders are committed to helping each other succeed. Our commitment to delivering results creates a goal-driven, high-performance culture, empowering every individual to contribute to our mission with clear impact and accountability.

Role Overview: Forward Deployed Engineer

As a Forward Deployed Engineer at ShipBob, you will embed directly within business teams to eliminate manual, repetitive, and error-prone workflows. This AI-first engineering role involves designing and deploying agentic workflows using code, APIs, and AI agents. You will work on a spectrum from micro-automations to large-scale AI-driven solutions, bridging the gap between operations and engineering while upholding ShipBob's structured engineering principles.

What You’ll Do

• Embed with operational teams to observe workflows, uncover root causes, and identify AI automation opportunities.
• Break down complex, manual processes into clean system flows and technical requirements.
• Own the full lifecycle: observe, prototype, validate with domain experts, harden, and productionize solutions.
• Build reliable systems with logging, retries, monitoring, and guardrails for edge cases.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering for core system interfaces, operating independently otherwise.
• Validate solutions with domain experts and iterate quickly based on feedback.
• Document and publish reusable modules into our Automation Hub to accelerate future projects.
• Drive fast iteration: ship small, gather feedback, and improve quickly.

What You’ll Bring (Must Have)

• 1-5 years of experience building AI agents that automate real workflows and eliminate manual work.
• Deep proficiency in Python, TypeScript (Node/React), and relational databases.
• Proven ability to design and build multiple RESTful APIs from scratch.
• Proficiency with CLI tools, using CLI-based agents (Claude Code, Codex) as your primary workflow.
• Experience with observability platforms (logging, tracing, monitoring your agents in production).

Big Pluses

• Hackathon experience (demonstrating ability to ship under pressure).
• Contributions to open source repositories.
• Early-stage startup background (wearing many hats).
• Experience building or extending CLI tools.

Things To Know

This role is offered on a contract basis with a clear opportunity to convert to full-time, serving as a mutual try-out. We encourage applications from individuals whose experience closely aligns with the requirements, recognizing that diverse backgrounds and skills, combined with passion, are vital for innovation. There is no deadline to apply for this position, as ShipBob accepts applications on an ongoing basis.

About You

We seek energetic high performers who thrive in a dynamic, collaborative, and results-driven environment. Ideal candidates embrace accountability and humility, push boundaries, and are motivated by challenging work. Every team member is expected to roll up their sleeves and tackle complex problems within the global supply chain.

Key skills/competency

• AI Agents
• Workflow Automation
• Python
• TypeScript
• RESTful APIs
• Relational Databases
• CLI Tools
• Observability
• Rapid Iteration
• Problem Solving