Engineering Manager- Forward Deployed Engineering (LLM)

Details

• Forward Deployed Engineering on the frontier of AI
• The fastest, most accurate Whisper transcription
• Deploy production-ready model servers from Docker images
• Deploy custom ComfyUI workflows as APIs
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of Forward Deployed Engineers, providing guidance on technical direction, project execution, and professional development.
• Set clear goals and ensure timely, high-quality delivery across multiple customer-facing projects involving LLM deployment and inference optimization.
• Collaborate with leadership to align team priorities with company and customer goals, balancing short-term delivery, widely varying customer priorities, and long-term technical initiatives.
• Player-coach – While much of this role will be leading the team, you will also be expected to be a key driver on strategic product initiatives and customer engagements. The best managers derive credibility from being able to be hands-on when needed.
• Develop and maintain software systems and product features using one or more general-purpose programming languages in a production-level environment, with a preference for Python due to its relevance in ML projects.
• Drive customer impact by designing, implementing, and deploying Baseten solutions end-to-end (problem framing → evaluation → production deployment → monitoring). This involves working with customers’ engineering teams at every stage of the customer journey including: sales, implementation, and expansion.
• Deliver with velocity: turn vague objectives into clear specs and well-defined PoCs so we can rapidly ship well-tested services and outcomes for our customers
• Optimize and enhance AI/ML projects, contributing to the continuous improvement of our technical stack. This includes developing features and PRDs with other engineering and product orgs.
• Own products and customer projects end-to-end, functioning as both an engineer, project manager, and product manager, with a focus on user empathy, project specification, and end-to-end execution.
• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 1+ year in a leadership or mentorship capacity.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with production experience in building or optimizing ML inference systems.
• Proven experience with LLMs, inference optimization, or serving frameworks (e.g., vLLM, TensorRT, Triton, Hugging Face, Ray Serve).
• Familiarity with observability, profiling, and cost/performance tradeoffs in production ML systems.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills—able to lead cross-functional efforts and drive outcomes in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.
• Experience leading customer-facing engineering teams or working directly with enterprise partners.
• Deep understanding of GPU infrastructure, distributed inference, or model compression techniques.
• Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity.
• 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents
• Flexible PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!)
• Paid parental leave
• Fertility and family-building stipend through Carrot
• Company-facilitated 401(k)
• Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities.