Forward Deployed Engineer

Location: Hyderabad, India (home base), deployed at client sites in India. Occasional Middle East exposure possible.

About the Role

You will work as a senior AI consultant who embeds inside a customer's business. Your job is to learn how the business makes money, find the highest value problem, and build a working system that solves it.

You will not hand over a document and walk away. You will show working software early, own the roadmap, own the client relationship, and stay after go-live to run and improve the system.

Four behaviors define this role:

1. Go where the work happens. You work onsite with the customer, in the room where decisions are made.
2. Show working software early. You build a prototype in days, not a document in weeks.
3. One person owns the outcome. You are the single point of accountability for the result.
4. Stay after go-live. You keep running and improving the system after launch.

You are the single point of accountability. You are not a solo builder. A full KnackLabs engineering team in Hyderabad builds and runs the production systems behind you.

This role involves extended onsite deployments at client locations in other cities, sometimes up to six months at a stretch. Please apply only if you are ready for this way of working.

What you'll own

1. Discovery - Learn how the customer makes money. Find the highest value problem to solve first.
2. The prototype - Build a working prototype fast, using real or sample data, to prove the idea.
3. The roadmap - Decide what to build, in what order, and set clear success measures tied to business outcomes.
4. The build - Design and ship the production system with the Hyderabad engineering team. This includes data integration, agents, retrieval, and evaluations.
5. The client relationship - Be the trusted technical contact for the customer, from engineers to senior leaders.
6. Go live and after - Deploy the system, watch how it performs, fix problems, and improve it over time.
7. Feedback to the product - Share what you learn in the field so our platform and internal tools get better.

What we are looking for

1. Around 7 or more years of software engineering experience, including customer-facing or client delivery work.
2. Experience working at a consulting or professional services firm in a client-facing delivery role.
3. A full-stack development experience with strength in backend technologies.
4. Strong programming skills in Python. Working knowledge of TypeScript or JavaScript.
5. Production experience with large language models, including prompt engineering and agent development.
6. You build with AI coding tools like Claude Code as your default way of working. You have built real apps and agents this way, not just used it for document generation or review.
7. Experience building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems: chunking, embeddings, vector databases, retrieval, and reranking.
8. Experience building and deploying AI systems.
9. Experience integrating with APIs and enterprise systems.
10. Experience with at least one cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
11. Experience building evaluations to measure accuracy, safety, latency, and cost.
12. Clear communication. You can explain a technical choice to an engineer and to a business leader.
13. High ownership and comfort with ambiguity. You can take an unclear problem and turn it into a plan.
14. Willingness to work onsite at client locations in India for extended periods, and to travel as the work needs.

Nice to have

1. Experience deploying AI systems in regulated industries such as insurance, banking, or the public sector.
2. Experience with on-premises or private cloud (VPC) deployments.
3. Experience with observability and tracing tools such as LangSmith or Braintrust.
4. Experience with data engineering and pipelines.
5. A history of side projects, open source contributions, or products you shipped end-to-end.
6. Experience in embedded or forward-deployed roles before.

Stack and tools

1. Languages: Python and TypeScript.
2. Models: Claude and other frontier or open source models, chosen to fit the customer.
3. AI patterns: RAG, agents, prompt engineering, and evaluations.
4. Vector and retrieval: vector databases and retrieval pipelines.
5. Cloud: AWS, Azure, or GCP, on public or private cloud.
6. Integration: REST APIs and enterprise system connectors.

Skill Set

Large language,Artificial Intelligence,Machine Learning

- 4–7 years of experience in software engineering/AI roles

- Strong programming skills in Python or TypeScript (Java/Go is a plus)

- Hands-on experience with LLMs, RAG pipelines, and AI frameworks

- Experience building APIs and working with distributed systems

- Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD pipelines

- Experience with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Excellent communication

Strong AI Engineer / Machine Learning Engineer profiles.

2

Mandatory (Experience 1) – Must have minimum 3+ years of hands-on experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied AI, NLP, Deep Learning, or Generative AI solutions.

3

Mandatory (Experience 2) – Must have strong hands-on experience in Python programming, SQL, data analysis, feature engineering, model development, and production-grade ML applications.

4

Mandatory (Experience 3) – Must have experience working with Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, or equivalent.

5

Mandatory (Experience 4) – Must have hands-on experience working on NLP, embeddings, semantic search, text classification, document understanding, recommendation systems, or similar AI/ML use cases.

6

Mandatory (Experience 5) – Must have experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, Llama, Mistral, Claude, Gemini, Phi, or similar foundation models.

7

Mandatory (Experience 6) – Must have hands-on experience building or implementing RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems, vector search, knowledge retrieval, embeddings, chunking, indexing, or semantic retrieval solutions.

8

Mandatory (Experience 7) – Must have experience working with Git, CI/CD practices, production environments, and scalable AI/ML systems.

9

Mandatory (CTC) – The CTC breakup offered will be 75% fixed + 25% variable, as per company policy.

10

Mandatory (Age) - Candidate's Age should be below 30 Years

11

Preferred (Experience 1) – Experience with MLFlow, Kubeflow, Airflow, Prefect, Feature Stores, Model Registry, or MLOps/LLMOps frameworks.

12

Preferred (Experience 2) – Experience working with Vector Databases, Spark, PySpark, distributed ML pipelines, large-scale data processing, or real-time ML systems..

13

Preferred (Experience 3) – Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, GCP, cloud-native AI deployments, and scalable ML architecture.

14

Preferred (Company) – Candidates from AI-first startups, Fintech, Banking, Lending, Fraud Analytics, Risk Analytics, Product Companies, SaaS organizations, or data-driven technology companies

15

Mandatory ( Pedigree) - B.TECH / M.TECH from Tier 1 Colleges (IIT's, NIT's, BITS) are Considered.

Strong AI Engineer / Machine Learning Engineer profiles.

2

Mandatory (Experience 1) – Must have minimum 3+ years of hands-on experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied AI, NLP, Deep Learning, or Generative AI solutions.

3

Mandatory (Experience 2) – Must have strong hands-on experience in Python programming, SQL, data analysis, feature engineering, model development, and production-grade ML applications.

4

Mandatory (Experience 3) – Must have experience working with Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, or equivalent.

5

Mandatory (Experience 4) – Must have hands-on experience working on NLP, embeddings, semantic search, text classification, document understanding, recommendation systems, or similar AI/ML use cases.

6

Mandatory (Experience 5) – Must have experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, Llama, Mistral, Claude, Gemini, Phi, or similar foundation models.

7

Mandatory (Experience 6) – Must have hands-on experience building or implementing RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems, vector search, knowledge retrieval, embeddings, chunking, indexing, or semantic retrieval solutions.

8

Mandatory (Experience 7) – Must have experience working with Git, CI/CD practices, production environments, and scalable AI/ML systems.

9

Mandatory (CTC) – The CTC breakup offered will be 75% fixed + 25% variable, as per company policy.

10

Mandatory (Age) - Candidate's Age should be below 28 Years

Strong AI Engineer / Machine Learning Engineer profiles.

2

Mandatory (Experience 1) – Must have minimum 5+ years of hands-on experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied AI, NLP, Deep Learning, or Generative AI solutions.

3

Mandatory (Experience 2) – Must have strong hands-on experience in Python programming, SQL, data analysis, feature engineering, model development, and production-grade ML applications.

4

Mandatory (Experience 3) – Must have experience working with Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, or equivalent.

5

Mandatory (Experience 4) – Must have hands-on experience working on NLP, embeddings, semantic search, text classification, document understanding, recommendation systems, or similar AI/ML use cases.

6

Mandatory (Experience 5) – Must have experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, Llama, Mistral, Claude, Gemini, Phi, or similar foundation models.

7

Mandatory (Experience 6) – Must have hands-on experience building or implementing RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems, vector search, knowledge retrieval, embeddings, chunking, indexing, or semantic retrieval solutions.

8

Mandatory (Experience 7) – Must have experience working with Git, CI/CD practices, production environments, and scalable AI/ML systems.

9

Mandatory (CTC) – The CTC breakup offered will be 75% fixed + 25% variable, as per company policy.

10

Mandatory (Age) - Candidate's Age should be below 30 Years

11

Preferred (Experience 1) – Experience with MLFlow, Kubeflow, Airflow, Prefect, Feature Stores, Model Registry, or MLOps/LLMOps frameworks.

12

Preferred (Experience 2) – Experience working with Vector Databases, Spark, PySpark, distributed ML pipelines, large-scale data processing, or real-time ML systems..

13

Preferred (Experience 3) – Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, GCP, cloud-native AI deployments, and scalable ML architecture.

14

Preferred (Company) – Candidates from AI-first startups, Fintech, Banking, Lending, Fraud Analytics, Risk Analytics, Product Companies, SaaS organizations, or data-driven technology companies

15

Mandatory ( Pedigree) - B.TECH / M.TECH from Tier 1 Colleges (IIT's, NIT's, BITS) are Considered.

Strong AI Engineer / Machine Learning Engineer profiles.

2

Mandatory (Experience 1) – Must have minimum 3+ years of hands-on experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied AI, NLP, Deep Learning, or Generative AI solutions.

3

Mandatory (Experience 2) – Must have strong hands-on experience in Python programming, SQL, data analysis, feature engineering, model development, and production-grade ML applications.

4

Mandatory (Experience 3) – Must have experience working with Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, or equivalent.

5

Mandatory (Experience 4) – Must have hands-on experience working on NLP, embeddings, semantic search, text classification, document understanding, recommendation systems, or similar AI/ML use cases.

6

Mandatory (Experience 5) – Must have experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, Llama, Mistral, Claude, Gemini, Phi, or similar foundation models.

7

Mandatory (Experience 6) – Must have hands-on experience building or implementing RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems, vector search, knowledge retrieval, embeddings, chunking, indexing, or semantic retrieval solutions.

8

Mandatory (Experience 7) – Must have experience working with Git, CI/CD practices, production environments, and scalable AI/ML systems.

9

Mandatory (CTC) – The CTC breakup offered will be 75% fixed + 25% variable, as per company policy.

10

Mandatory (Age) - Candidate's Age should be below 28 Years

11

Preferred (Experience 1) – Experience with MLFlow, Kubeflow, Airflow, Prefect, Feature Stores, Model Registry, or MLOps/LLMOps frameworks.

12

Preferred (Experience 2) – Experience working with Vector Databases, Spark, PySpark, distributed ML pipelines, large-scale data processing, or real-time ML systems..

13

Preferred (Experience 3) – Familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, GCP, cloud-native AI deployments, and scalable ML architecture.

14

Preferred (Company) – Candidates from AI-first startups, Fintech, Banking, Lending, Fraud Analytics, Risk Analytics, Product Companies, SaaS organizations, or data-driven technology companies

15

Mandatory ( Pedigree) - B.TECH / M.TECH from Tier 1 Colleges (IIT's, NIT's, BITS) are Considered.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

•Build agents with persistent context & memory

•Design self-learning feedback loops

•Implement RAG pipelines for domain knowledge

•Manage conversation state & orchestration

•Integrate with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Claude, open-source)

Iterate fast — ship daily, measure weekly

MUST-HAVE SKILLS

•Python / TypeScript proficiency

•LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen or custom frameworks

•Experience with vector DBs (Pinecone, Weaviate, Qdrant)

•Prompt engineering & evaluation pipelines

•Understanding of agent architectures (ReAct, tool-use)

Git, CI/CD, containerization basics

Location: Hyderabad, India. Based at the KnackLabs headquarters, with occasional travel to client locations for workshops and reviews. This role does not involve extended onsite deployments.

About the Role

You will work as an AI Architect who designs the systems behind our client engagements: AI agents, RAG systems, automation platforms, and the conventional backend systems around them.

This is a hands-on design role, not a slideware role. You will scope architectures with clients, make the hard technical decisions, defend them in review, and stay accountable for how the systems perform in production.

You will work directly with clients. Everyone at KnackLabs does. You will sit in design discussions with client engineering teams, present architecture decisions to technical and business stakeholders, and answer for the choices you make.

A full KnackLabs engineering team in Hyderabad builds with you. You own the technical design and the quality of what ships.

What you'll own

1. Architecture - Design AI agents, RAG systems, integrations, and the scalable backend systems around them, for multiple client engagements.
2. Technical scoping - Work directly with clients to turn a business problem into a system design, with clear trade-offs and clear reasons.
3. Scale and reliability - Make sure what we build handles real load: data stores, queues, caching, horizontal scaling, and fault tolerance.
4. Design reviews - Review designs and builds across engagements. Set the technical bar and hold it.
5. Evaluation strategy - Define how we measure accuracy, safety, latency, and cost for the AI systems we ship.
6. Guiding engineers - Raise the level of the engineers building with you, through reviews and direct pairing.
7. Feedback to the platform - Feed what you learn across engagements back into our platform and internal tools.

What we are looking for

1. Around 7 or more years of software engineering experience, including direct work with customers on design or delivery.
2. Full-stack development experience with strength in backend technologies.
3. Experience designing and building scalable applications. You understand how large-scale distributed systems work: data partitioning, queues, caching, horizontal scaling, and fault tolerance.
4. At least 2 years of strong, hands-on AI experience with large language models in production.
5. You build with AI coding tools like Claude Code or Codex as your default way of working. You understand Claude Skills, have written skills yourself, use them actively, and have contributed to them.
6. Hands-on experience building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems: chunking, embeddings, vector databases, retrieval, and reranking.
7. Hands-on experience building AI agents.
8. Strong programming skills in Python. Working knowledge of TypeScript or JavaScript.
9. Experience with at least one cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
10. Clear communication. You can explain an architecture decision to an engineer and to a business leader, and defend it under questioning.
11. High ownership and comfort with ambiguity. You can take an unclear problem and turn it into a design.

Nice to have

1. Experience building evaluations to measure accuracy, safety, latency, and cost.
2. Experience with observability and tracing tools such as LangSmith or Braintrust.
3. Experience with on-premises or private cloud (VPC) deployments.
4. Experience deploying AI systems in regulated industries such as insurance, banking, or the public sector.
5. Experience with data engineering and pipelines.
6. A history of side projects, open source contributions, or products you shipped end-to-end.
7. Experience working at a consulting or professional services firm in a client-facing delivery role.

Stack and tools

1. Languages: Python and TypeScript.
2. Models: Claude and other frontier or open-source models, chosen to fit the customer.
3. AI patterns: RAG, agents, prompt engineering, skills, and evaluations.
4. Vector and retrieval: vector databases and retrieval pipelines.
5. Cloud: AWS, Azure, or GCP, on public or private cloud.
6. Integration: REST APIs and enterprise system connectors.

Strong Data Scientist / AI Engineer / Generative AI Engineer profile.

2

Mandatory (Experience 1) - Must have 3+ years of hands-on experience in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, NLP, or Generative AI application development.

3

Mandatory (Experience 2) - Must have strong hands-on experience in Python programming, backend development, API development, and production-grade application support.

4

Mandatory (Experience 3) - Must have experience working with Machine Learning and Deep Learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, or Scikit-learn.

5

Mandatory (Experience 4) - Must have hands-on experience in NLP use cases such as text classification, sentiment analysis, entity recognition (NER), semantic search, embeddings, or document understanding.

6

Mandatory (Experience 5) - Must have experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, LLaMA, Mistral, Phi, Claude, Gemini, or similar models.

7

Mandatory (Experience 6) - Must have hands-on experience building or implementing Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) solutions, vector search, semantic search, or knowledge-based AI applications.

8

Mandatory (Experience 7) - Must have experience with Prompt Engineering and Generative AI frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, AI Agents, Azure OpenAI, or similar technologies.

9

Mandatory (Experience 8) - Must have experience developing, consuming, or integrating APIs using Python frameworks such as FastAPI, Flask, or similar technologies.

10

Mandatory (CTC) - The CTC breakup offered will be 75% fixed + 25% variable, as per company policy.

11

Preferred (Experience 1) - Experience with LLMOps/MLOps tools for monitoring, evaluation, experimentation, and versioning of AI models.

12

Preferred (Experience 2) - Exposure to Azure OpenAI, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Kubernetes, cloud-native AI deployments, or distributed systems.

The Role

We’re looking for a Senior Applied AI & Data Engineer to become our first dedicated AI and data engineer.

You’ll build conversational AI experiences across web, mobile, and in-store channels while developing the data foundation behind them. You’ll make key technical decisions and own your work through to production.

What You’ll Do

• Build AI assistants using tool calling to work with real product, search, and order systems

• Design guardrails and evaluation sets to ensure AI responses are accurate and safe

• Build real-time and voice-enabled AI experiences

• Improve product data quality through AI-assisted enrichment and review workflows

• Build data pipelines, analytics, and personalisation systems

• Work closely with web and mobile developers and help guide technical implementation

What You’ll Need

• 6+ years of experience building and running production backend systems

• Strong Python skills, plus experience with JavaScript/TypeScript backends

• Experience shipping at least one LLM-powered feature to real users

• Experience with search and relevance

• Experience building data pipelines and analytics stores

• Comfortable deploying and monitoring services on a major cloud platform

• Strong communication skills and the ability to work independently

Nice to Have

• Experience with speech or voice AI

• E-commerce or retail technology experience

• Experience building multilingual products