AI Native Forward Deployed Engineer

Summary

Tread is an AI-native vertical SaaS platform transforming construction materials logistics. The AI Native Forward Deployed Engineer role involves acting as a technical bridge between customers and the product, leading customer implementations, developing solutions based on field observations, and ensuring customer satisfaction through technical support and product development.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical implementation for new customers: API integrations, data mapping, workflow configuration, and scale house connectivity
• Build custom integrations, data pipelines, and automation for customers with complex requirements
• Debug and resolve technical issues in the field, often on the same day they surface
• Own the technical relationship with assigned accounts—you are their go-to when something is broken or needs to be built
• Turn customer pain points into shipped features
• Contribute directly to Tread's codebase (Rails API, GraphQL, React) based on what you learn in the field
• Prototype and validate solutions with customers before they become full product investments
• Feed structured, prioritized insights to Product and Engineering
• Build technical onboarding materials, API documentation, and integration guides for customers
• Develop self-serve tools and content that reduce the need for hands-on support as we scale
• Plan and facilitate QBRs with strategic accounts
• Identify what makes Tread sticky and execute relentlessly to deliver that value
• Expand revenue with existing customers by uncovering problems and solving them before they're asked
• Help turn our data moat into self-reinforcing product loops that get smarter the longer a customer is on the platform
• Own the technical health of your portfolio

Skills

• 2+ years of software engineering experience. You can write production code in at least one of: Ruby/Rails, JavaScript/React, Python, or equivalent
• Comfort with APIs, databases, and data pipelines. You can read a GraphQL schema, debug an integration, and write a migration
• Customer-facing instincts. You can sit in a room with a VP of Operations at a trucking company and earn their trust
• Bias toward action. You see a problem, you fix it. You don't wait for a ticket
• Strong written and verbal communication. You can translate a messy customer conversation into a clear problem statement and a proposed solution
• Willingness to travel. You'll be on-site with customers regularly, especially early on
• High ownership, low ego. You'll do support tickets, write docs, build features, and present at QBRs. Whatever the customer needs
• Analytical mindset. You instrument what you ship, track adoption, and use data to decide what to build next
• Builder mentality. You'll personally debug a scale house integration in the morning and prototype a new dispatcher workflow in the afternoon
• Experience in construction technology, heavy civil, logistics, supply chain, or field services
• Familiarity with our stack: Rails, GraphQL, React, Intercom, Linear, PostHog, Omni
• Experience with AI/ML product development or leveraging LLMs in customer-facing workflows (AI-assisted integrations, automated onboarding, intelligent ticket deflection)
• You've worked at a Series A–C company with under 50 people and thrived in the ambiguity
• Experience with e-ticketing, scale house systems, ERP integrations, or DOT compliance
• You've shipped a feature that originated from a single customer conversation and watched it scale across an entire book of business

Qualifications

Must Haves

• 2+ years of software engineering experience. You can write production code in at least one of: Ruby/Rails, JavaScript/React, Python, or equivalent
• Comfort with APIs, databases, and data pipelines. You can read a GraphQL schema, debug an integration, and write a migration
• Customer-facing instincts. You can sit in a room with a VP of Operations at a trucking company and earn their trust
• Bias toward action. You see a problem, you fix it. You don't wait for a ticket
• Strong written and verbal communication. You can translate a messy customer conversation into a clear problem statement and a proposed solution
• Willingness to travel. You'll be on-site with customers regularly, especially early on
• High ownership, low ego. You'll do support tickets, write docs, build features, and present at QBRs. Whatever the customer needs
• Analytical mindset. You instrument what you ship, track adoption, and use data to decide what to build next
• Builder mentality. You'll personally debug a scale house integration in the morning and prototype a new dispatcher workflow in the afternoon

Nice to Haves

• Experience in construction technology, heavy civil, logistics, supply chain, or field services
• Familiarity with our stack: Rails, GraphQL, React, Intercom, Linear, PostHog, Omni
• Experience with AI/ML product development or leveraging LLMs in customer-facing workflows (AI-assisted integrations, automated onboarding, intelligent ticket deflection)
• You've worked at a Series A–C company with under 50 people and thrived in the ambiguity
• Experience with e-ticketing, scale house systems, ERP integrations, or DOT compliance
• You've shipped a feature that originated from a single customer conversation and watched it scale across an entire book of business