Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Physical AI (Japan GTM)

BACKGROUND

A global AI engineering platform company, trusted by more than half of the world's leading OEMs across automotive, aerospace, and energy, is building its first direct team in Japan. In December 2025 the company closed a $100M Series C led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and at CES 2026 it launched a new AI Design Copilot product with physics- and geometry-aware capabilities, reinforcing its position as a category leader in engineering AI.

ROLE OVERVIEW
- Position: Forward Deployed Engineer
- Reports to: Head of Application Engineering (ex-McKinsey)
- Employment type: Full-time
- Work style: Hybrid, flexible hours, results-based
- Onboarding: Several weeks of in-person training at the company's Swiss HQ at the start of the contract, with direct access to global engineering and product teams
- Compensation: Competitive, structured individually

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS RIGHT NOW
- This is effectively a Forward Deployed Engineer role: an engineer embedded inside the customer's world, making AI actually work against real data and real problems. From 2025 to 2026, FDE/Application Engineer postings on Indeed grew from 643 to 5,330, up 729 percent. OpenAI has committed $10B alongside Goldman Sachs and SoftBank into a deployment-focused venture. The industry consensus has shifted: the bottleneck in AI is no longer the model, it is the people who can actually deploy it inside real companies.

WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Run projects directly with customer engineering teams, analyzing and processing engineering data using the company's platform and Python libraries.
- Apply machine learning and deep learning workflows to engineering and physics problems, delivering proofs of concept across CAD, CAE, and manufacturing.
- Train customer teams to adopt the platform effectively into their workflows.
- Work closely with the development team to translate customer feedback into product improvements.

WHO YOU ARE
- Master's or PhD in Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or Physics.
- Strong understanding of both engineering and machine learning (strict requirement).
- Solid Python experience, with hands-on experience in machine learning and deep learning frameworks (strict requirement).
- Simulation experience; industry experience with CAD or CAE (CFD, FEM, etc.) is a plus.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Comfortable in a customer-facing role.
- Fluent in both Japanese and English (native Japanese preferred).

WHAT YOU GET
- Work directly with a world-class global engineering team.
- Competitive compensation with upside tied to a high-growth stage.
- A collaborative, multicultural environment where your work is visible.
- The opportunity to build the company's presence in Japan from the ground up.

Company name is confidential at this stage and will be disclosed individually. If this is relevant to your background, let's set up a call.