Forward Deployed Engineer
Outward Intelligence — AI-powered research platform · 12 employees · bootstrapped and profitable
About the role
Outward Intelligence is an AI-powered research platform that helps companies understand what people think, and why, so they can make faster, better decisions. It combines the rigor of traditional research with the speed of modern technology and serves some of the best-known consumer brands in the US. Founded in 2022 and built by former Palantir and Harris Poll leaders, it is a bootstrapped, profitable team of about 12.
This is an early role: you'll own how clients get their data into the platform and how much value they get from it, taking the hardest data work off the CTO's plate so he can focus on strategy. They want someone with real grit, who pushes through messy, painful data integrations until they work and then automates the pain away. You'll lead projects on your own with little direction and care more about client results than the technology itself.
US-based on US time zones, with flexibility to take calls across East and West Coast hours with researchers and clients. The team meets at off-site retreats two to four times a year. There is no relocation support.
What you will own
- Lead historical data ingestions: bring years of client research from other vendors and systems into the data model, tracking how survey questions and answer options changed from wave to wave
- Build backcasting models with the researchers so historical data lines up with live tracking data and trends stay accurate and comparable
- Use AI and automation to turn painful manual ingestion, validation and analysis into repeatable frameworks
- Own client-facing product projects from start to finish, increasingly with enterprise clients: work out what each customer needs to succeed on the platform, pull in the right people at the right time and deliver it
- Shape the role itself: work closely with researchers, clients and the core product team, and use the platform heavily to find gaps, fix bugs (TypeScript, React, Node) and fill analysis gaps with SQL, Python or R
Requirements
We interview honestly against this list — if you meet most of the “Must have” rows, apply.
Compensation
Role details
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