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

The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) plays a critical role in the successful deployment of the Optimal Dynamics platform within customer environments. This role is responsible for translating solution designs into technical configurations, integrating with customer data systems, validating optimization model behavior, and ensuring the platform functions effectively in live operational settings.

The FDE acts as a technical bridge between Solutions Engineering, Product, and the customer—bringing deep functional and technical knowledge to drive seamless implementations and long-term customer value.

Key Responsibilities

Data Engineering & System Integration

• Design and implement reliable data pipelines to ingest, transform, and load transportation data from diverse customer sources
• Integrate the Optimal Dynamics platform with customer systems using APIs, SFTP, flat files, or direct database connections
• Ensure data quality, completeness, and alignment with platform requirements and optimization needs
• Troubleshoot data or integration issues quickly and effectively in coordination with internal and customer teams

Model Calibration & Technical Configuration

• Calibrate optimization and simulation models to reflect real-world operational constraints and customer-specific objectives
• Collaborate with the Solutions Engineer to interpret solution design artifacts and translate them into executable platform configurations
• Iterate on model parameters and technical settings based on output validation, performance metrics, and user feedback
• Validate that optimization recommendations align with expected outcomes and customer business rules

Project Collaboration & Business Alignment

• Act as a core technical lead on project teams, partnering closely with Solutions Engineers to align data and model configurations with solution intent
• Participate in project planning, milestone tracking, and customer meetings to ensure transparency and alignment
• Provide clear documentation of data flows, configurations, and technical decisions to support knowledge transfer and scaling
• Support feedback loops between customer operations teams and Optimal Dynamics product/engineering

Post-Deployment Monitoring & Optimization

• Monitor system performance and model behavior during and after deployment to ensure solution effectiveness
• Identify calibration or integration updates based on operational feedback and observed data patterns

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.

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.