Forward Deployed Engineering Principal

About the Company

PMG is a global independent marketing services and technology company named Ad Age Best Places to Work for 11 years in a row and Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators since 2022. The company seeks to inspire people and brands that anything is possible, driven by shared success. PMG leverages business strategy, transformation, creative, media, insights, and its proprietary operating system, Alli, to deliver cutting-edge digital solutions and innovative media strategies. With over 900 employees globally, PMG works with ambitious brands like Apple, Nike, Sephora, Experian, Therabody, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, Creed Fragrances, BNY, Intuit, CKE Restaurants, Travelex, and Whole Foods across 85+ countries.

About the Team

You’ll be part of PMG’s Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team, a group of senior, customer-facing engineers operating at the intersection of business problems, technology, and platform innovation. FDE partners deeply with priority customers, Vertical leaders, Client Strategy, Analytics, Product, and Engineering to solve complex, high-impact challenges that don’t fit standard playbooks. The team builds custom technical solutions within the PMG Operating System (Alli), sometimes integrating with Alli from a sandbox environment and sometimes outside the platform entirely. This small, senior group is designed for depth over breadth, focusing on driving meaningful business outcomes and shaping scalable solutions over time.

Responsibilities

• Operate as a senior individual contributor with enterprise-level influence, solving real customer business problems through technology rather than maintaining or extending a predefined product roadmap.
• Partner deeply with priority customers and PMG leadership to understand material business challenges, constraints, and opportunities.
• Translate ambiguous business problems into clear technical approaches and working solutions.
• Design and deliver custom technical solutions across data, measurement, workflows, mobile, and platform integrations.
• Operate hands-on in solution design and build, using modern tools, AI-assisted coding, and best practices to move quickly without sacrificing quality.
• Advise customers and internal teams on feasibility, tradeoffs, and technical direction.
• Identify patterns, learnings, and approaches that can inform reusable accelerators or future platform capabilities.
• Influence product and platform evolution by feeding validated insights back into PMG’s broader technology ecosystem.
• Support high-impact moments such as strategic pitches, QBRs, and new business efforts where technical clarity materially changes the outcome.
• Use AI, automation, and technology to elevate the quality and efficiency of work, streamline processes, and enable faster, more informed decision-making.

Requirements

• Strong technical literacy and the ability to design, evaluate, and build solutions without needing to be the deepest specialist in any single language or framework.
• Experience solving real business problems with technology, not just implementing predefined requirements.
• Comfort working across systems, data flows, APIs, and platforms, including modern cloud and measurement environments.
• 8+ years of experience in customer-facing or consultative technical roles (e.g., forward deployed engineering, solutions architecture, technical consulting, sales engineering, or similar).
• Ability to reason about tradeoffs, feasibility, and risk when the “right answer” isn’t obvious.
• A bias toward execution: comfort moving from problem to prototype to production quickly.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted and agentic coding tools, and the judgment to use them effectively within standards and best practices.
• Strong communication skills, especially the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• A track record of influencing decisions without direct authority.
• Curiosity, adaptability, and comfort operating where the path to value isn’t fully defined upfront.
• Understanding that reuse, scale, and platform contribution are earned through impact—not assumed at the start.

Benefits

• Professional Development: Access to learning and development programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement support.
• Generous Time Off: Paid time off and holiday allowances.
• Parental Leave: Paid parental leave to support family during important life events.
• Retirement & Pension Plans: Competitive retirement or pension programs, including contribution matching.
• Fertility and Family Support: Fertility benefits for all team members and their spouses.
• Healthcare: Coverage and support for everyday medical expenses and routine care, tailored by geography.
• Pet Insurance: Health protection for your pet.
• Lifestyle Spending Accounts: 100% company-funded accounts to promote healthy habits and well-being.
• Commuter Benefits: Support for travel and commuting needs, where available.
• Annual Bonus: All employees are eligible for an annual bonus.
• Volunteering Opportunities: 8 give-back hours to volunteer in local communities.
• AI Enterprise License: Access to AI Enterprise accounts and weekly AI training sessions to empower and ensure AI safety.

Benefits vary by country, location, and geography to reflect local laws, norms, and expectations.

Company Culture

Being part of PMG means joining a company culture dedicated to working hard to serve employees and clients, delivering value, results, and innovation. The company values grit and agility, believing in taking care of ourselves and each other to continuously improve. PMG is committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive culture and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The company recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.