Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

About the role

We're looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer who will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between scientists and our AI-powered drug discovery platform. Your primary responsibility will be to work closely with scientists, machine learning teams, and pharmaceutical stakeholders to integrate Tamarind into their workflows.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with customers (scientists, ML teams, pharma orgs) to understand their workflows and translate those needs into deployable solutions.
• Stand up AI/ML workflows using Tamarind's platform, often within days of initial engagement.
• Configure and deploy models (such as protein structure, docking, generative models) against real datasets.
• Own pilots end-to-end, from scoping to execution to expansion.
• Debug, adapt, and optimize workflows across compute, models, and data pipelines.
• Partner with product and engineering to turn customer feedback into roadmap inputs.
• Support technical discussions, demos, and deployments across the sales cycle.

Requirements

• Strong engineering fundamentals (Python preferred).
• Experience working with AI/ML systems or data pipelines.
• Ability to operate in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Strong communication skills — able to interface with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Willingness to work onsite in San Francisco.

Technology

Tamarind operates at the intersection of DevOps, MLOps, and Computational Biology. You'll work across:

• ML models (protein design, structure prediction, docking)
• GPU-based compute infrastructure
• APIs, workflows, and orchestration layers
• Scientific datasets and research pipelines