Platform Engineer; Forward Deployment

Platform Engineer (Forward Deployment)

Lightning AI is the company behind PyTorch Lightning. Founded in 2019, we build an end-to-end platform for developing, training, and deploying AI systems—designed to take ideas from research to production with less friction.

Through our merger with Voltage Park, a neocloud and AI Factory, Lightning AI combines developer-first software with cost-efficient, large-scale compute. Teams get the tools they need for experimentation, training, and production inference, with security, observability, and control built in.

We serve solo researchers, startups, and large enterprises. Lightning AI operates globally with offices in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and London, and is backed by Coatue, Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and First minute.

• Partner directly with customers to design, implement, and deploy end-to-end AI systems and workflows on Lightning's platform
• Translate vague customer objectives into clear technical specifications, proof-of-concepts, and scalable production implementations
• Own customer technical engagements end-to-end, from early discovery and architecture through deployment, monitoring, and expansion
• Develop and maintain production-grade software systems and services using modern programming languages, with a strong preference for Python
• Build reliable, observable systems with strong attention to latency, throughput, quality, scalability, and cost efficiency in production environments
• Debug and optimize AI systems across inference infrastructure, model behavior, APIs, and distributed workloads to improve performance and reliability
• Work closely with customer engineering teams throughout the full lifecycle of AI deployments, including technical discovery, implementation, deployment, and scaling
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Lightning's product and engineering teams to improve platform capabilities, influence roadmap priorities, and identify opportunities for reusable product improvements
• Navigate ambiguity with sound technical judgment, making thoughtful tradeoffs and selecting the right tools and approaches without introducing unnecessary complexity
• Demonstrate strong ownership and accountability in execution, with a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes for both customers and internal teams

Required Qualifications

• Strong software engineering experience building production full-stack applications, including modern frontend frameworks such as React and Type Script, and backend services in Python, Go, or similar programming languages.
• Experience working directly with customers in highly technical environments, such as Forward Deployed Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Applied AI Engineering, Technical Product Engineering, or related roles
• Familiarity with AI/ML pipelines and the lifecycle of model development, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
• Experience deploying and operating production AI/ML systems in cloud or distributed environments
• Familiarity with modern AI infrastructure and tooling such as Docker, Kubernetes, APIs, model serving systems, or distributed inference workloads
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, especially when working through complex technical topics with customers, engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders
• Ability to translate business needs into technical solutions and drive projects from initial concept through production delivery
• Ability to execute effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving, high-growth environments
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience building, deploying, or optimizing large-scale AI/ML systems in production environments
• Experience with modern AI stacks and tooling such as vLLM, TensorRT, Ray, Lang Graph, vector databases, or workflow orchestration systems
• Familiarity with inference optimization, distributed systems, or GPU-accelerated workloads
• Startup experience or experience operating in highly cross-functional environments
• Track record of rapidly shipping proof-of-concepts and production systems while maintaining strong engineering quality
• Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in…