Forward Deployed Engineer

LiveKit is building the infrastructure layer for the voice-driven era of computing. The platform provides developers with everything needed to build, test, deploy, scale, and observe agents in production. Founded in 2021, LiveKit powers voice AI applications for OpenAI, xAI, Salesforce, Coursera, Spotify, and thousands of others, collectively facilitating billions of calls annually.

Core Traits for Success

The ideal candidate is obsessed with helping developers succeed, known as the go-to problem-solver for tricky technical issues, capable of moving fast without sacrificing quality, detail-oriented with clear communication skills, and a rapid learner constantly acquiring new tools and systems knowledge.

Role Overview

Forward Deployed Engineers work directly with customers building real-time communication and voice AI applications on the LiveKit platform. This position sits at the intersection of engineering, architecture, and customer implementation. Engineers partner closely with customers to design systems, prototype solutions, and solve complex technical challenges as teams transition from experimentation to production.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with customer engineering teams designing and implementing real-time applications
• Design scalable architectures for voice AI, real-time media, and developer platform use cases
• Build prototype integrations, reference implementations, and sample applications
• Help customers navigate SDKs, APIs, infrastructure, and deployment strategies
• Debug and troubleshoot complex technical issues in production environments
• Lead technical workshops and architecture sessions with developer and product teams
• Translate customer needs into technical insights informing product development
• Partner with Product and Engineering to improve developer experience, documentation, and tooling
• Contribute code, examples, or improvements to LiveKit's open-source ecosystem
• Act as a trusted advisor helping customers successfully launch and scale applications

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of backend or infrastructure engineering experience
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages: Go, Python, Node, Rust, or C++
• Comfort working across APIs, SDKs, distributed systems, and cloud infrastructure
• Experience building or integrating developer platforms or real-time systems
• Ability to quickly understand complex systems and debug issues in real-world environments
• Strong communication skills collaborating with customer and internal teams
• Ability to operate in fast-paced, low-process environments with ownership and initiative
• Enthusiasm for hands-on work solving complex technical implementation challenges

Bonus Qualifications

• WebRTC, real-time media systems, or telephony/SIP infrastructure experience
• Voice AI, conversational agents, or AI infrastructure familiarity
• Previous customer-facing engineering roles (Solutions Engineer, Field Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer)
• Open-source project contribution experience
• Prior LiveKit building or integration experience

Benefits

• Opportunity to build technology powering next-generation real-time and voice AI applications
• Collaboration with world-class engineers and open-source contributors
• Competitive salary and equity package
• Health, dental, and vision benefits
• Flexible vacation policy