Forward Deployed Engineer

Forward Deployed Engineer

Criteria

Zenline is moving one of the largest industries in the world into the AI-first era. Webuild AI agents that find the perfect assortment for every retailer to compete against Amazon & Temu.

Our team combines experience from BCG, Amazon, ETH, and Cambridge and we’re backed by Seedcamp, one of Europe’s leading early-stage funds.

The industrial and e-commerce revolutions did already happen. The AI revolution is unfolding now. You can either watch it from the sidelines or be one of the people who built it at Zenline.

As our 2nd or 3rd Founding Deployment Engineer, you will own the success of AI deployments at the world’s top retailers. You’ll be our retail industry lead, working directly with some of the most influential CEOs in the world.

For this, you will:

• Bridge commercial requirements and AI:
  Translate retail needs into actionable AI deployments that create measurable margin impact
• Lead customer relationships:
  Collaborate directly with C-level executives and transform the work of category teams to make the first retailers in the industry truly AI-first
• Shape our AI product:
  Work hands‑on with data pipelines, model outputs, and integrations. Together with your colleagues, scale learnings from deployments into reusable product modules and agent capabilities
• Perfect deployments for scale:
  Build and automate smart deployment processes so that one Deployment Engineer can support multiple customers efficiently

This is your chance to shape an entire industry with an AI-first approach.

This is a founding path. Within 1 year, as we scale rapidly, you’ll have the opportunity to grow into an Industry Lead, owning a retail vertical (e.g. electronics, fashion, FMCG) and scaling AI agents across it.

We reward impact fast —>
Your growth depends entirely on the value you create. So does your bonus.

We’re looking for an analytical mind with 2–3 years of experience who thrives in customer-facing, fast-paced & hard-working environments. You might come from BCG, McKinsey, Palantir, Quant Co, or a fast scaling start-up and you’re eager to shape, build and move fast.

You bring:

• Technical confidence: proficiency in Python, SQL, or prompt engineering & curiosity for AI
• Analytical depth: strong data intuition, structured problem solving, and ability to quantify business value
• Ownership mindset:
  You love autonomy & responsibility (from day 1 you will be responsible for owning 20-40 users per customer), but you also know that building something big only works as a team sport
• Willingness to “scrub the floor”:
  At Zenline, everyone does what needs to be done. There are no hierarchies when it comes to getting things done —> we move fast when we support each other

• Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity:
  Be part of shaping Europe’s next generational AI company during its defining years
• Competitive package: CHF 105,000–120,000 + stock options + bonus
• Full autonomy:
  You own your deployments end-to-end — no slides, no “preliminary stickers”
• The skill of the decade:
  You’ll learn to deploy real AI use cases that reshape how enterprise teams work — and build the most in-demand capabilities of the coming decade.
• Zurich-based:
  Join us in one of Europe’s most vibrant startup ecosystems
• Ready to build Europe’s next Decacorn?

Send your resume, Linked In, or Git Hub to arber. Let’s build the company you want to work for!