Senior Forward-Deployed Engineer - Federal

Company Overview

Deepgram is bringing the world’s most natural interface, voice, to the technology we use every day. Our speech models and real-time infrastructure power AI systems that keep up with the way people actually speak. More than 5,000 organizations run conversational voice AI on Deepgram in production, including Twilio, Cloudflare, Sierra, Decagon, Vapi, Cresta, Granola, and Jack in the Box.

The Deepgram Voice Agent Platform brings together speech-to-text, text-to-speech and speech-to-speech, with voice-native foundation models available through cloud APIs or self-hosted and on-premises deployments. Built for accuracy, low latency and cost efficiency, Deepgram makes high-quality voice experiences practical to build and run at scale. More than 650,000 developers have used Deepgram to process more than 200,000 years of audio. Every day, more of the world’s conversations with AI run on our models.

Operating Principles:

Deepgram is a research company that productizes as fast as possible. Four Operating Principles shape how we think, decide, and work together:

1. Compress before you communicate. You think it through first, then lead with the bottom line.

2. Resist entropy. You question what already exists before adding more process or tools.

3. Solve the category. You fix recurring problems at the source, not one case at a time.

4. Work at the frontier. You go after problems no one has solved yet.

We look for people who already work this way, and these principles shape how we grow and evaluate our team.

AI-First by Default

We build AI that millions of people talk to, and we run the company the same way. AI is how we centralize work here, and is core to how we operate.

That means more than using the tools. We expect you to:

• Build, not just use. Design your own workflows and agents, and use AI to remove whole categories of work instead of doing the same work faster.

• Own the output. AI can speed up the work. It doesn’t make anyone less accountable for it. You understand, verify, and stand behind everything you share, including what an agent produces for you.

• Spend the time you get back at the frontier. The capacity AI creates goes toward problems no one has solved yet.

• Keep pace. Models and tools change every month, and so will your work. You adopt what’s new quickly and drop what no longer earns its place.

We judge AI by what it helps you deliver and whether you stand behind the result, not by how often you use it. In interviews, expect to walk us through a workflow you built and where you drew the line between AI and your own judgment.

Opportunity

Deepgram is seeking a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to join our Applied Engineering team, with a focus on federal customers. In this role, you will embed directly with our most strategic federal accounts to lead complex deployments of Deepgram's Voice AI platform in production environments where mission performance matters, delivery is urgent, and ambiguity is the default.

Many of these deployments are on-prem, air-gapped, or on constrained hardware where cloud APIs aren’t an option. You’ll be one of the first engineers on Deepgram’s federal Applied Engineering team, helping define how Voice AI gets deployed across government.

You will own the full technical lifecycle of federal engagements, from initial discovery and proof-of-concept through production deployment and ongoing optimization. You'll map customer problems, structure delivery, and ship solutions fast. This includes scoping, sequencing, and building full-stack integrations that create measurable mission impact while driving clarity across internal and external teams. Along the way, you'll identify reusable patterns, codify best practices, and share field signals that influence Deepgram's product roadmap.

As a member of the Applied Engineering team, you'll serve as the trusted technical thought partner for federal stakeholders, guiding adoption, maximizing operational value, and ensuring successful deployments at scale. While your engagements will primarily involve federal customers, you'll remain a core part of the broader Applied Engineering team and may contribute to commercial engagements where your expertise is valuable.

Note: this role is based remotely out of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area.

About Applied Engineering at Deepgram

The Applied Engineering (AppEng) team at Deepgram combines the functions that other companies might separate into Sales Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Implementation, Forward-Deployed Engineering, and Technical Support. We serve as the technical interface between Deepgram and our customers throughout their entire journey, from initial discovery and proof-of-concept, through implementation and onboarding, to ongoing technical support. We work closely with our Customer Success and Developer Relations (DevRel) teams to ensure a positive, growth-focused experience for our customers, as well as with Product and Engineering teams to deliver solutions that meet customer needs. This unified approach allows us to provide comprehensive technical guidance and build deeper relationships with our customers.

As a Senior Applied Engineer operating in the FDE role for federal engagements, you'll work with a high degree of autonomy in customer environments that are often on-prem, air-gapped, or hardware-constrained, with strict compliance and security requirements. Your work will directly shape how federal agencies leverage Voice AI to achieve their missions.

What You'll Do

• Own technical delivery across federal deployments, from first prototype to stable production

• Embed deeply with federal customers to design and build mission-critical applications powered by Deepgram's Voice AI models

• Deploy and operate Deepgram’s models in self-hosted, air-gapped, and edge environments, working within the hardware, network, and accreditation constraints of each customer

• Lead technical discovery and solution design for federal prospects and customers, partnering with Account Executives so that what gets scoped can actually be built and deployed

• Prototype and build full-stack integrations using Python, JavaScript, Rust, or comparable stacks that deliver real mission impact

• Enable successful deployments across customer environments by delivering observable systems spanning infrastructure through applications

• Proactively guide federal stakeholders on maximizing operational value from Deepgram's platform, including performance optimization and deployment strategies

• Scope work, sequence delivery, and remove blockers early, making deliberate trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality

• Build and manage relationships with customer leadership and technical stakeholders to ensure successful deployment and scale

• Contribute directly to code when clarity or momentum depends on it

• Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, reference architectures, and building blocks the broader team can use

• Share field feedback with Product and Engineering to influence model and product development

• Serve as an escalation point for complex technical issues in federal deployments

• Analyze deployment patterns to identify product improvement opportunities and inform Deepgram's federal go-to-market strategy

Time Allocation

• 40% — Embedded customer delivery: deployments, integrations, and technical problem-solving at federal customer sites and facilities

• 25% — Pre-sales technical engagement: discovery, demos, proof-of-concepts, and proposal support

• 20% — Building reusable solutions, automation, documentation, and reference architectures

• 15% — Internal collaboration: product feedback, knowledge sharing, and contributing to Applied Engineering strategy

Your First 90 Days

First 30 Days: Complete comprehensive onboarding to understand Deepgram's technology, products, and competitive landscape. Gain proficiency with our core APIs and documentation. Shadow active customer engagements across both commercial and federal accounts to build familiarity with how the Applied Engineering team operates, the deployment patterns we use, and the specific requirements of government environments.

60 Days: Begin taking ownership of federal customer engagements, leading technical discovery and developing proof-of-concepts for government prospects. Start contributing to federal-specific technical content, reference architectures, and deployment guides. Provide technical input on active federal opportunities, including what it will take to deploy in each customer’s environment.

90 Days: Own the full technical relationship with assigned federal accounts. Develop and deliver complex solutions addressing specific mission challenges. Establish patterns for repeatable federal deployments and begin contributing to the team's federal go-to-market methodology.

You'll Love This Role If You

• Want to help build a new federal engineering practice from the ground up

• Thrive in high-ambiguity, mission-driven environments where you need to move fast and make sound decisions under pressure

• Are passionate about translating complex technical capabilities into real operational value for government missions

• Enjoy embedding deeply with customers, building trust, and becoming their go-to technical partner

• Find satisfaction in shipping production systems that make a tangible difference

• Are energized by the challenge of deploying cutting-edge Voice AI in complex, constrained environments

• See yourself as an engineer first who happens to be great with customers, not the other way around

• Can ruthlessly prioritize across multiple projects and operate with high autonomy

It's Important To Us That You Have

• Active Top Secret clearance, or equivalent

• 5+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience, ideally in customer-facing or government environments

• Strong software engineering background with professional development experience in at least one modern programming language, such as Python, JavaScript, or similar

• Proven ability to scope and deliver complex systems in fast-moving or ambiguous contexts

• Experience building and deploying production systems in government or similarly constrained environments

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior government leadership

• Willingness to travel up to 50%, including on-site work at government facilities

It Would Be Great if You Had

• Experience with speech recognition, NLP, AI/Voice agents, or related AI technologies

• Familiarity with cloud deployment models (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, etc.), Kubernetes, Terraform, and related infrastructure

• Experience deploying software or models in on-prem, air-gapped, or edge environments

• Experience building or deploying systems powered by LLMs or generative models, with an understanding of how model behavior affects product experience

• Knowledge of FedRAMP, FISMA, or other government compliance frameworks

• Experience with API-first products and developer tools

• Exposure to federal sales or procurement cycles

• Experience developing automation solutions, self-service tools, and technical documentation for customer enablement

Notice: We're aware of individuals impersonating Deepgram recruiters. All legitimate Deepgram recruiting communication comes from an @deepgram.com email address. If you've received a message claiming to be Deepgram, please forward it to [email protected].