Forward Deployed Engineer

About our company

Optimal Dynamics is on a mission to automate and optimize the logistics industry through the use of advanced analytics. We are built on over four decades of groundbreaking research and development at Princeton University, representing the pinnacle of technological advancement in the logistics and transportation industry. Our customers experience sustained, tangible results with double-digit revenue lift after integration. Optimal Dynamics is a high-growth early-stage company with ~60 employees and $55M in funding. 

About our team

We are a team of bright, kind, and solution-oriented people focused on creating value for our customers. We can solve problems individually, but understand that the best solutions are found when the team brainstorms ideas together. We are excited about balancing the need to deploy new solutions quickly and designing solutions that are secured, reliable, maintainable and scalable for the long run.

Role Overview

Optimal Dynamics is seeking an experienced Forward Deployed Engineer with 5+ years of technical and functional expertise in deploying, integrating, and optimizing enterprise solutions within customer environments. In this role, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of our logistics decision-making platform, ensuring seamless implementation and operational efficiency.

You will drive end-to-end (E2E) solution design, translating complex business needs into actionable technical and functional specifications, process and data workflows, and design documentation. By leveraging your expertise, you will ensure that our solutions are scalable, user-friendly, and aligned with industry best practices to deliver optimal business outcomes. You will collaborate with Solution Engineers, customers, and internal stakeholders throughout the implementation cycle, providing strategic technical and functional guidance to troubleshoot issues and validate configurations for successful solution deployment.

Key Responsibilities

1. E2E Solution Design and Enablement: Serves in a client-facing role to ensure smooth integration of OD platforms with customer systems, focusing on data pipelines, APIs, data governance, and validation. Collaborates with customers, troubleshooting issues, and delivering data-driven solutions that align with the client's business requirements.   Functions as the primary technical liaison with customers during integration projects, gathering requirements, and aligning functional and technical solutions with project timelines and client business goals. Create and document data flows and use cases illustrating how our solutions will meet specific customer needs and objectives.
2. Scalability and User-Friendliness: Ensure that all solution designs are scalable and user-friendly, taking into account current and future business needs as well as industry trends and best practices. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather insights on user experience and operational requirements, driving enhancements to solution designs.
3. Strategic and Functional Guidance: Provide ongoing strategic and functional guidance to Solution Engineers throughout the E2E implementation cycle, ensuring alignment with the overall project goals. Troubleshoot and resolve issues that arise during the implementation process, leveraging technical expertise to validate configurations and suggest improvements.
4. Collaboration with Stakeholders: Work closely with product management, engineering, and customer success teams to ensure that solutions are delivered on time and meet quality standards. Engage with customers to gather feedback on proposed solutions, fostering strong relationships and ensuring alignment with their business strategies.
5. Continuous Improvement: Conduct post-implementation reviews to assess the effectiveness of solution designs and identify areas for improvement.Stay current with industry best practices and emerging technologies to continuously enhance solution design methodologies and frameworks.
6. Documentation and Knowledge Sharing: Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation related to solution designs, configurations, and best practices to support internal knowledge-sharing and onboarding efforts. Create training materials and conduct workshops for internal teams and customers to promote understanding of the Optimal Dynamics platform and its capabilities.
7. Performance Metrics and Outcome: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of implemented solutions, ensuring they align with customer objectives and business outcomes. Analyze data and performance metrics post-implementation to drive continuous optimization of solutions and processes.

Who you are

• BSc or MSc degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Math or equivalent technical experience.
• 5+ years professional, hands-on product or data science engineering experience designing, building and maintaining complex solutions with emphasis on full stack solutions.
• Strong proficiency in Python 3
• Hands-on experience with major cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Expertise in relational databases, including Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with Operations Research, Optimization, and/or Simulation models. Some background in Machine Learning.

Nice to have (Bonus Points)

• Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform.
• Familiarity with modern data tools such as dbt and DuckDB is highly valued.
• Experience with monorepo management tools (e.g., Bazel, Buck) is a plus.

About our tech stack and development practices

At Optimal Dynamics, our entire infrastructure runs on Amazon AWS, leveraging a wide range of services including DynamoDB, Aurora, SSM, and SQS to power our intelligent logistics platform.

Our tech stack includes:

• Backend & AI: Python 3 and Java
• Data Stack: Trino, Dagster, dbt, DuckDB, and Preset

We follow modern development best practices with all code stored on GitHub. Every pull request undergoes thorough code reviews, is fully unit tested, and deployed through our CI/CD pipeline for continuous quality assurance.

Pay Range$150,000—$175,000 USD

Benefits

• Competitive compensation, including Series B level equity
• Health / Dental / Vision 100% covered for employee and 50% for dependents
• Life Insurance, with optional supplemental insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• 401(k) with match
• Unlimited PTO (vacation, personal days, sick days, jury duty, military leave, bereavement)
• 11 Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave for all employees
• Short-term and Long-term Disability Insurances, and AD&D Insurance
• Fitness membership reimbursement
• Commuter benefits
• Flexible work from home policy
• Employee discounts

Optimal Dynamics is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive workplace with equal opportunity for all applicants and employees. Our goal is to recruit the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool regardless of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex (including pregnancy), age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Optimal Dynamics is committed to working with and providing access and reasonable accommodation to applicants. If you require an accommodation, please reach out to careers@optimaldynamics.com once you've begun the interview process. All requests for accommodations are treated discreetly and confidentially, as practical and permitted by law.