Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

About Akkio Akkio is the AI infrastructure platform that powers and automates workflows across the media ecosystem. Embedded directly in customers' cloud environments, Akkio transforms data into intelligent workflows - helping teams move faster, make better decisions, and deliver results in minutes instead of days. We're a fast-growing team building the future of AI-enabled operations, and we're looking for talented people to join us to shape the future of media work. The Opportunity As a Senior Forward Deployed Data Engineer at Akkio, you will work directly with our media agency customers, embedded in their environments to solve their most pressing data challenges. You'll own end-to-end technical delivery of customer implementations, building bespoke data pipelines and integrations that unlock the full power of Akkio's AI platform for each client's unique needs. As a customer liaison, you will serve as the technical bridge between their teams and ours. The ideal candidate is an excellent communicator with an intuitive understanding of customer requirements, expertise in both SQL and Python, and ability to work across both application and database technologies. This role requires regular travel to customer sites to work face-to-face with media agencies who value a hands-on partnership. Your insights from the field will directly shape Akkio's product direction and help define how the media industry leverages AI. This is a unique opportunity to join a well-funded, early-stage AI startup and shape the future of AI-powered marketing analytics while working with a talented team. What You'll Do Embed directly with media agency customers to understand their data infrastructure, workflows, and business objectives Own end-to-end technical delivery of customer implementations from initial scoping through production deployment and ongoing optimization Design and build custom data pipelines, integrations, and transformations that connect customer data sources to Akkio's AI platform Take full ownership of complex data engineering projects from planning to deployment Implement security and compliance measures to protect sensitive client data Build and maintain production data infrastructure with proper monitoring, alerting, and documentation Feed learnings from customer deployments back to the product team to influence platform roadmap and feature development Establish trusted advisor relationships with customer technical and business stakeholders Navigate diverse technical environments and adapt solutions to each customer's existing data infrastructure Travel regularly to customer sites for onboarding, implementation sprints, and strategic planning sessions Mentor junior engineers and establish data engineering best practices Communicate project milestones and progress clearly to stakeholders Who You Are 5+ years of experience as a data engineer with proven ability to deliver complex projects in customer-facing or consulting environments Strong SQL skills and experience with at least one large cloud database (especially Snowflake, BigQuery, or Databricks) Strong data modeling skills, including when to normalize vs denormalize data and understanding of various schema design patterns. Expert in Python for production data pipelines, with experience using modern orchestration tools like dbt or Airflow Experience building large scale backend services in Python Excellent communication skills. Equally comfortable presenting to C-level executives and debugging code with engineers Excited by customer-facing work and energized by seeing your solutions drive real business impact Skilled at prompting and working with AI systems for data tasks, leveraging LLMs for data transformation, cleaning, schema mapping, and analysis Strong bias to execution coupled with high engineering standards and attention to detail Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience) Bonus Points: Strong experience with large language models (LLMs) and their applications in data analytics Experienced at integrating AI tools into data workflows to accelerate delivery and improve data quality Knowledge of data visualization and analytics tools Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) Understanding of security best practices for handling sensitive data Previous startup experience, particularly in early-stage companies Why You'll Love Working Here Join Akkio and help transform how media companies leverage AI in marketing and advertising. You'll be at the forefront of applying AI technologies to solve real business problems in a rapidly evolving industry. AI will transform every industry – but only when it's accessible to everyone, not just data scientists. You'll have a direct impact on product direction and company growth while working with major clients in the media space. This is a rare opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a well-funded AI startup where your vision directly shapes how thousands of marketing professionals interact with AI technology. Our culture is built around shared wins, so success drives large career, financial, and personal growth. We offer competitive compensation, including substantial equity grants, flexible work arrangements, comprehensive healthcare benefits, and professional development opportunities. Additional Information Location: Remote-first company with no central office location. This position is fully remote. Compensation: Competitive salary range depending on experience, plus substantial equity grants Benefits: Health, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) plan; generous PTO policy Authorization: Must be authorized to work in the US Akkio is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills, and we believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. To all recruitment agencies: Akkio does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias or Akkio employees. Akkio is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.