Forward Deployed Engineer
We're building the ground truth platform for AI.
Generic tools hallucinate data, confabulate reports, and don't show their work. We made accuracy the only possible outcome: every answer traces to its source, every calculation is reproducible, every insight is defensible. We're starting in finance and building the foundational data layer for anywhere decisions depend on trustworthy data.
Kepler was founded by two Palantir veterans (20 years combined) who built core parts of Gotham and Foundry, created Palantir Quiver (the analytics engine behind $100M+ deals with BP and Airbus), led major DoD projects, and served as Head of Business Engineering at Citadel.
Kepler is backed by founders of OpenAI, Facebook AI, MotherDuck, dbt, Outerbounds, and others.
The Role
As a Forward Deployed Engineer at Keru, you'll be the technical architect of our most strategic client relationships. You'll work directly on-site with our lighthouse customers, sophisticated financial firms and research organizations. to deploy, customize, and optimize Keru's AI-native research platform for their specific workflows and requirements.
This is the engineering role that lives our core principle: "Forward-Deployed with Product DNA." You'll embed directly with clients to own their outcomes while simultaneously building the platform that serves the entire market. Your code decisions can impact million-dollar research outcomes.
Within your first 90 days, you will:
Rapidly build and develop vertical apps on top of Keru.ai’s core platform.
Engage with Portfolio Managers at institutions with 10B+ AUM to scope and build workflows.
Develop deep expertise in agentic tooling, products, and technologies.
Own a customer engagement end-to-end.
This is the right role if you want to build the future of financial research while working directly with the world's most sophisticated analysts with guidance from engineers who've scaled enterprise platforms from zero to global adoption.
What You'll Do
Engineer solutions at client sites: Deploy and customize AI research workflows directly where critical financial decisions happen, rapidly prototyping solutions that push our platform's boundaries.
Drive product innovation from the field: Identify technical gaps while embedded with clients, then architect and implement new capabilities that become core product features.
Build enterprise integrations: Design complex integrations with client data infrastructure, research tools (Bloomberg, CapIQ), and proprietary trading systems.
Optimize platform performance: Scale our AI platform for client-specific use cases, solving complex performance challenges in real-world research environments.
Bridge field and product: Rotate between forward deployed work and core platform development, bringing field insights directly into our technical architecture.
Own critical deployments: Ensure our platform performs reliably for clients' most critical research operations, debugging issues across the full stack.
What We're Looking For
Must-haves
3 - 5 years of software engineering experience with a track record of deploying complex systems in enterprise environments.
Client-facing technical experience: Previous role as Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or similar position working directly with enterprise customers.
Full-stack development skills: Strong capabilities in Python/TypeScript with experience in distributed systems, data pipelines, and API development.
Enterprise integration / data integration expertise: Experience with SSO/SCIM, RBAC, database integrations, and enterprise security requirements.
Communication and presentation skills: Comfortable presenting to C-level executives and technical teams alike.
Travel flexibility: Willingness to travel regularly (30-50%) for on-site client engagements from our NYC HQ.
Nice-to-haves
Financial services exposure: Previous experience working with financial firms or familiarity with research workflows.
Data platform experience: Background with large-scale data processing, ETL pipelines, or analytics platforms.
Rust development experience.
Startup experience where you owned features end-to-end.
Don't check every box? Apply anyway. We prioritize speed of learning, problem-solving skills, client empathy, and drive to transform how financial research works.
Mentorship & Growth
You'll be directly mentored by engineers who built Palantir's core systems. Expect:
Weekly 1:1s with senior engineers who've architected enterprise-scale distributed systems
Deep architectural reviews and guidance on agent system design
Clear growth path toward technical leadership and system ownership
Learn by building—production agentic systems that power real financial research
At Keru, mentorship accelerates strong systems engineers into exceptional technical leaders.
Our Technical Stack
Backend: Python, Node.js, Rust, PostgreSQL, Redis
AI/ML: OpenAI/Anthropic/OpenRouter Vector Databases
Infrastructure: AWS, Docker, Temporal, Kubernetes, Kafka, Apache Airflow
Monitoring: Datadog,
Tools: Git, GitHub Actions, Pulumi
Benefits
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, 401k, insurance for employees and dependents
Automatic coverage for basic life, AD&D, and disability insurance
Daily lunch in office
Development environment budget - latest MacBook Pro, multiple monitors, ergonomic setup, and any development tools you need
Unlimited PTO policy
"Build anything" budget - dedicated funding for whatever tools, libraries, datasets, or infrastructure you need to solve technical challenges, no questions asked
Learning budget - attend any conference, course, or program that makes you better at what we're building
Our Technical Stack
Frontend: React, Typescript, Vite, Tailwind, Radix, TanStack, Zustand
Backend: Rust, Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, Redis
AI/ML: OpenAI, Anthropic, MCP SDK,
Infrastructure: AWS (S3, RDS), Docker, Temporal, Kubernetes, Dataflow
Tools: Git, GitHub, Pulumi, Auth0, SharePoint
Benefits
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, 401k, insurance for employees and dependents
Automatic coverage for basic life, AD&D, and disability insurance
Daily lunch in office
Development environment budget - latest MacBook Pro, multiple monitors, ergonomic setup, and any development tools you need
Unlimited PTO policy
"Build anything" budget - dedicated funding for whatever tools, libraries, datasets, or infrastructure you need to solve technical challenges, no questions asked
Learning budget - attend any conference, course, or program that makes you better at what we're building
Our Operating Principles
Forward-Deployed with Product DNA: We own customer outcomes while building a product company. That means embedding, iterating, and deploying where our customers are. We don't win if they don't win.
Extreme Ownership: Big vision, shared ownership. If you notice a problem, you own it. Authority comes from initiative, not job titles. Once you step up, you're accountable for the outcome.
Production-First Engineering: We design for critical workloads from day one. Durable execution, blue/green deploys, automated rollbacks, continuous delivery with end-to-end observability. Every change lands safely and stays resilient under real-world load.
Trust as the Default: People do their best work when confidence is mutual. We show our work, keep our promises, and flag risks before they bite. Trust isn't an aspiration. It's the baseline.
Keep Raising the Bar: We block time for training, code-health sprints, and deep-dive tech talks. A sharper team and a cleaner stack pay compounding dividends. Continuous learning isn't a perk. It's part of the job.
Kepler is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment.