Forward Deployed Engineer

Unitary is a rapidly growing startup on a mission to transform how businesses get work done.

We build Virtual Agents, AI-powered software workers that automate complex back-office operations. Virtual Agents are a proprietary blend of AI models and deterministic systems, built agentically. They combine advanced reasoning with human-in-the-loop oversight in a system designed to deliver reliable, production-grade automation with guaranteed outcomes.

We are expanding rapidly across insurance, marketplaces, and healthcare, in industries where operational complexity, legacy systems, and cost pressure make traditional automation approaches too risky or too slow.

Backed by Plural and Creandum, we raised a $15M Series A in 2024 and are building a new category of outcome-guaranteed automation for complex operations. This is an opportunity to join at a pivotal stage and help shape how businesses adopt AI safely and at scale.

The role

We are now looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer to build and deliver innovative AI products to our customers. Your software expertise and machine learning knowledge will help transform our customers' manual processes into AI automated solutions.

Your mission will be to ensure our customers receive the most effective AI solutions for their specific needs, either by delivering solutions to them or creating capabilities that support these activities. You will apply your technical and analytical skills to understand customer challenges and collaborate with them to leverage our AI in the automation of their work. Initially, you will provide hands-on support for our machine learning models as they come to market but then will gradually develop self-service tools that empower customers to achieve value independently.

As part of this role, you will do some or all of:

• Collaborate with customers to thoroughly understand their workflows, then design and build Virtual Agents that automate their processes.
• Contribute to the development of our Virtual Agent development platform that scales with our product strategy.
• Ensure our AI services maintain high standards of reliability, observability, availability, and performance.
• Participate in our machine learning community to influence how we implement machine learning and computer vision technologies, shaping Unitary's future.
• Take ownership of customer outcomes with the autonomy to make decisions that surprise and delight our customers.
• Contribute full-stack development including software engineering, DevOps, and MLOps, along with light task and project management to ensure your AI solutions deliver maximum value.

Requirements

You

We are looking for someone who is as excited about Unitary’s mission as we are, who wants to have a large impact at an early-stage startup, and be a key part of defining Unitary’s future as one of our early employees. We need versatile people who are happy to get stuck into whatever needs doing, and are ready to learn and grow with the company.

For this particular role, we need a proactive Forward Deployed Engineer who is comfortable engaging with customers and technical internal stakeholders and exploring and presenting new ideas. Strong communication skills are essential, as you'll lead technical deliveries and bring others along on the journey. You embrace a product mindset in everything you do and should demonstrate a genuine curiosity for solving current and future customer challenges.

We would love to hear from you if you:

• Have strong Python and Machine Learning Engineering skills, with experience using and applying AI to solve customer problems
• Can (or want to learn to) develop agentic AI systems that can automate human processes
• Have an understanding of (or want to learn) how software is deployed through Kubernetes, and with the capability to deploy some infrastructure elements independently
• Can demonstrate problem solving and project management skills in order to analyse workflows and design automated solutions
• Thrive in a collaborative environment where group output and team achievements weigh heavier than individual input
• Can travel to our company-wide offsites three times per year

It would be even better, but not essential, if you have:

• Experience working in a fully remote, international team
• Previous startup experience
• A background in building and operating agentic AI systems
• Experience with MLOps practices and tools, and monitoring machine learning systems in production
• Knowledge of CI/CD practices and tools such as GitLab CI, Argo CD
• Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases
• Worked with Kubernetes and infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as Terraform
• Experience with Large Language Models (LLMs) and a keen interest in staying current with the latest AI technology advancements

This role will report to a Staff Engineer and can be placed anywhere within 3 hours of the UK time zone.

Benefits

The team

Unitary is a remote-first team of 25+ people spread across Europe and North America who are fiercely passionate about making the internet a better place, and deeply motivated to become a force for good. We have an ambition to create a company filled with happy, kind and collaborative people who achieve extraordinary things together. Our culture is built around the power of trust, transparency and self-leadership.

Working at Unitary

We are committed to creating a positive and inclusive culture built on genuine interest in each other's well-being. We offer progressive and market-leading benefits, including:

• Flexible hours and location
• Competitive salary and equity package
• Occupational pension
• Generous paid parental leave
• Generous paid sick leave
• Annual budget for your professional development and growth
• Annual budget for your individual health and wellness
• Three team off-sites to London or other exciting destinations in Europe