Dryft Seed
Forward Deployed Engineer
Palo Alto, CA On-site Added Jun 28
About the role
DRYFT
Dryft builds intelligent systems that automate complex human decisions in manufacturing operations
We’re a small, talent-dense team with modest roots and a love for the physical world - cars, machines, planes. Our team includes graduates from Stanford, Berkeley, CDTM, TUM, winners of Stanford TreeHacks, recipients of Fulbright & Haniel scholarships, and builders of everything from robots and race cars to software with millions of downloads.
We’re backed by the founders and leaders behind Amazon, Facebook, Stripe, Applied Intuition, & others; General Catalyst & Neo, and board members of global industrial companies.
Today, we’re already saving customers millions. But this is only the beginning. ERPs ran the physical world for half a century. Dryft is powering the next.
THE ROLE
This role is our most entrepreneurial. I no other role will you learn more about how to become a great founder, listener & builder.
As our Founding Forward Deployed Engineer, you’ll operate at the intersection of product, engineering, and operations. 50% Engineering, 50% Customer interaction.
- Design the product backbone. Work hands-on with users, translate their pain into product improvements, and prototype features yourself - ideally writing production code when needed.
- Turn operations into product. Every deployment becomes a blueprint for scale — you’ll transform learnings into reusable product features, data models, and playbooks that move Dryft from bespoke to productized.
- Lead full-stack rollouts. Own implementations end-to-end: from scoping and onboarding to integration and training. Align IT teams, engineers, and C-level execs across Germany, the EU, and the US (10–30% travel).
- Shape how Dryft scales. Work directly with the CEO & CTO to define the product DNA, build the foundation for future teams, and grow into roles like CPO or COO.
Industry
AI / Manufacturing Operations
Top skills for this role
- Agent-based AI and mathematical optimization for manufacturing operations
- 2. ERP/enterprise system integration and production deployment
- 3. Customer-embedded technical implementation in industrial environments
Languages
not specified
Frameworks & tools
ERP system integrations (SAP and similar)agent-based AI frameworksmathematical optimization tooling
AI / ML skills
Agent-based AI for manufacturing decision automationmathematical optimization for operational workflowsautonomous decision systems for supply chain
Customer skills
Translating complex manufacturing operational problems into AI automation; embedding with frontline teams and executives; customer site visits to industrial environments
Domain knowledge
Manufacturing operations; supply chain management; ERP systems; industrial process optimization
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