HUG
Forward Deployed Engineer
Requirements
Candidates should have 3–6 years of software or product engineering experience, strong full-stack ability, Python experience, frontend experience, and a track record of shipping production systems. They should be comfortable working with customers and non-technical stakeholders, thrive in ambiguity, and move quickly; early-stage startup, founding engineer, or Forward Deployed experience is a plus.
Job Description
🚀 Forward Deployed Engineer - London
I’m working with a fast-growing, venture-backed AI startup that is hiring several Forward Deployed Engineers to join its engineering team in Shoreditch.
This is not a traditional FDE role where you spend your time configuring software or writing integrations.
You’ll sit directly with customers, understand how their teams actually work, turn messy real-world workflows into software, and own the engineering from idea → production.
You’ll be joining a ~20-person company that has raised a $4.5M seed round from top-tier investors and is already deployed inside some of the largest enterprises in its industry. The company is growing rapidly and plans to double its headcount this year.
🔥 What makes the role interesting:
• Build and ship production software from your first week
• Work directly with customers and founders
• Own features end-to-end across frontend, backend, data and AI/model layers
• Work on AI-powered workflows involving document intelligence, technical review, inspection and complex operational processes
• Huge amount of autonomy - you'll decide what to build, not just how to build it
• Genuine opportunity to grow into a technical leadership role as the team scales
• Meaningful equity in a very early-stage company
🛠️ What we're looking for:
• 3–6 years of software/product engineering experience
• Strong full-stack engineering ability
• Strong Python experience plus frontend experience
• Experience building and shipping real production systems
• Comfortable working directly with customers and non-technical stakeholders
• Someone who enjoys ambiguity, moves quickly and can take a problem from zero → shipped product
• Strong engineering pedigree - experience at a high-quality startup, scale-up or engineering-led company is ideal
• Founding engineer, early-stage startup or Forward Deployed experience is a major plus
📍 Shoreditch, London - predominantly 5 days/week in the office
💰 £100,000–£160,000 + meaningful equity
🛂 Visa sponsorship available
This is a great opportunity for an engineer who wants significantly more ownership than they'd get in a traditional engineering role - and wants to be close to both the customer and the product.
Interested? Apply here or drop me a DM!
Skills
About HUG
At HUG, we believe recruitment should feel personal - because the best teams are built on real connections. We are a specialist Technology and Finance Tech recruitment consultancy, placing exceptional talent in Engineering, Product, GTM, Leadership, and buy-side and sell-side finance roles. From early-stage AI and fintech startups to high-growth scale-ups and established enterprises across the UK, Europe, and US, we help ambitious companies hire the people who move the needle. What makes us different is true partnership and care. We take the time to understand the unique challenges and ambitions of our clients, offering practical insights on talent availability, compensation trends, and candidate perceptions of your brand. We’re not here for quick fixes - we’re here to help you hire smarter, faster, and more sustainably. Candidates matter just as much. We guide every person with transparency, respect, and support - from first conversation to long after they’ve started. We’ve partnered with some of the biggest names in tech and finance, delivering exceptional results in high-growth and challenging markets. Ready to build something lasting? 📩 hello@hugrecruitment.com | hugrecruitment.com