Forward Deployed Engineer
About the role
LiveKit is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to work directly with customers building real-time communication and voice AI applications on the LiveKit platform. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, architecture, and customer implementation. Forward Deployed Engineers partner closely with customers to design systems, prototype solutions, and solve complex technical challenges as teams move from experimentation to production.
You'll work alongside customers' engineering teams to help them successfully deploy and scale applications built on LiveKit — designing architectures, building integrations, debugging production issues, and developing reference implementations that demonstrate best practices. This is an ideal role for engineers who enjoy solving real-world problems in real customer environments.
What You'll Do
- Work directly (remotely or on-site when necessary) with customer engineering teams to design and implement real-time applications built on LiveKit
- Design scalable architectures for voice AI, real-time media, and developer platform use cases
- Build prototype integrations, reference implementations, and sample applications to accelerate customer development
- Help customers navigate SDKs, APIs, infrastructure, and deployment strategies for production systems
- Debug and troubleshoot complex technical issues in production environments
- Lead technical workshops and architecture sessions with developers and product teams
- Translate customer needs into technical insights that inform product and platform development
- Partner with Product and Engineering to improve developer experience, documentation, and tooling
- Contribute code, examples, or improvements to LiveKit's open-source ecosystem when helpful
- Act as a trusted advisor helping customers successfully launch and scale applications on LiveKit
Who You Are
- Strong engineering background with 5+ years of experience in backend or infrastructure engineering
- Proficient in one or more programming languages such as Go, Python, Node, Rust, or C++
- Comfortable working across APIs, SDKs, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure
- Experience building or integrating developer platforms or real-time systems
- Able to quickly understand complex systems and debug issues in real-world environments
- Strong communicator who can collaborate directly with customer engineering teams and internal product teams
- Comfortable operating in fast-paced, low-process environments where ownership and initiative matter
- Excited to work hands-on with customers solving complex technical implementation challenges
Nice to Have
- Experience with WebRTC, real-time media systems, or telephony/SIP infrastructure
- Familiarity with voice AI, conversational agents, or AI infrastructure
- Experience working in customer-facing engineering roles such as Solutions Engineer, Field Engineer, or Forward Deployed Engineer
- Experience contributing to open-source projects or developer ecosystems
- Previous experience building with or integrating LiveKit
Our Commitment to You
- An opportunity to build something truly impactful to the world
- Contribute to open source alongside world-class engineers
- Competitive salary and equity package
- Health, dental, and vision benefits
- Flexible vacation policy
Compensation Range
$180K - $320K