Forward Deployed Engineer Seattle, Washington

Gradial is a Seattle-based startup enabling digital experiences at the speed of thought. We empower marketers and creatives to implement their ideas directly, with software that adapts over time. Our platform automates website and design system updates, large-scale migrations to new design systems, and continuous content optimization while adhering to company and product brands.

Backed by world class investors, we’re looking to scale our platform and expand our team. At Gradial, we operate with extreme ownership, bias towards action and critical path planning. We tackle problems from first principles, question assumptions, and find creative solutions. If you want to take risks, work on groundbreaking technology, and see the direct impact of your work, Gradial is where you belong.

We’re hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead implementations of our AI platform directly with customers. This role is ideal for a technically fluent builder who thrives at the intersection of engineering and problem solving; someone who wants to be hands‑on with code while shaping how some of the world’s most recognizable brands modernize their content operations.

As an FDE, you’ll own full-stack development for enterprise deployments, working side‑by‑side with customers to map complex workflows into scalable generative systems. You’ll move between discovery, prototyping, implementation, and post‑launch optimization—translating real-world pain points into elegant technical solutions.

• Lead technical discovery and implementation for new enterprise customers, translating nuanced business processes into robust AI-native solutions.
• Build, deploy and optimize features that integrate customer systems with Gradial’s LLM‑driven platform.
• Develop reusable tools, adapters and configuration layers to support scalable enterprise onboarding.
• Collaborate with customer stakeholders (mainly within marketing, operations and engineering) to define requirements, surface edge cases and iterate in real time.
• Work closely with Gradial’s product and engineer teams to incorporate learnings from the field into our core roadmap.
• Contribute to internal technical documentation and implementation playbooks that accelerate future deployments.
• Own performance, reliability and maintainability for the solutions you ship, from backend architecture to customer UX.

• 3+ years of software engineering or technical implementation experience, ideally in customer‑facing contexts.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Type Script or similar, with a strong understanding of APIs and systems integration.
• Ability to rapidly understand unfamiliar technical ecosystems (CMS, DAM, workflow tools) and build integration paths.
• Excellent communication skills. Confident translating for both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• High ownership mindset with comfort operating independently, navigating ambiguity.
• Willingness to travel occasionally (