Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

Are you ready to shape the future of data?

Matillion is the company behind Maia, the AI Data Automation platform.

In the AI economy, demand for data is exploding. Manual data engineering can’t keep up. Maia fixes that by combining 15 years of data expertise with agentic AI to eliminate the manual work that slows data teams down. Organisations like Cisco, DocuSign, and Slack are already using it to deliver real business impact, faster.

We started in Manchester and now we’re global - with teams across the UK, US and India.

We are driven, curious, energetic people who move fast, think big and hold ourselves to a high standard. We’re here to make a dent in the universe bigger than ourselves. And we’re looking for people who want to be part of it.

The Principal Forward Deployed Engineer is Matillion’s most senior technical field expert, deployed to handle high-stakes, deeply complex, and ambiguous customer adoptions of Maia. Operating across all organisational levels, they write production-grade code alongside customer engineers, design architecture with executive leadership, and unite Matillion’s internal teams, Sales, Support, Product, and Engineering, to turn stalled accounts into reference wins. By resolving complex issues directly and identifying new expansion opportunities, they serve as the vital link driving customer adoption and revenue growth.

Beyond direct customer engagement, this role shapes the future of Matillion’s engineering practice and product offerings. As a foundational leader in the Forward Deployed Engineering function, they establish reference architectures, set engineering standards, and build internal automation tooling alongside the DevX team. Additionally, they mentor rising FDEs and translate hard-won field insights directly into the core product roadmap to continually improve delivery across the entire business.

What you will be doing:

• Architecting strategic data solutions by designing reference architectures, building complex data pipelines and models across cloud platforms, and guiding customers through to production.

• Solving high-complexity engineering problems by remaining a hands-on contributor to the Matillion codebase and tackling the toughest technical challenges.

• Establishing function-wide technical standards by setting the engineering, architecture, and quality benchmarks that the entire Forward Deployed Engineering practice operates by.

• Delivering pragmatic customer outcomes by questioning initial requirements, scoping solutions down to valuable MVPs, and eliminating systemic failure modes before they occur.

• Advising executive leadership by building trusted relationships with VPs and CTOs and acting as the primary escalation authority for business-critical accounts.

• Empowering customer self-sufficiency by training internal champions and delivering clear documentation so customer teams can independently maintain and extend the solutions.

• Partnering with pre-sales and driving expansion by serving as the technical authority in high-stakes deals to support account growth alongside Sales without carrying a commission quota.

• Influencing the core product strategy by identifying repeating delivery patterns and working directly with Product and Engineering leadership to turn custom fixes into platform features.

What we are looking for:

• 8+ years of production-grade software engineering experience in object-oriented languages (preferably Java), with deep expertise in distributed systems, event-driven architectures, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms across AWS, Azure, or GCP.

• Strong background in cloud data platforms including Snowflake, Databricks, Amazon Redshift, and Google BigQuery, paired with a solid foundation in data architecture and networking.

• Proven ability to define reference architectures, establish engineering standards, enforce code quality, and lead large-scale codebase refactoring.

• Adoption of an agentic-first approach to software delivery, leveraging AI tools as quality multipliers, with hands-on experience in production LLMs, RAG, and AI agents valued.

• Executive presence and customer empathy, acting as a trusted advisor to VP and CTO-level stakeholders while building long-term executive relationships.

• Sound engineering judgment in highly ambiguous, high-stakes environments, enabling clear architectural decisions under pressure.

• Ability to drive cross-functional change and influence technical strategy across teams without relying on direct authority.

• Track record of delivering transformational technical impact for complex enterprise customers, guiding engagements from initial MVP through to full production.

• Founder mentality characterized by strong ownership, drive, a bias for action, and the ability to convert emerging technologies into clear customer value.

• Commitment to customer self-sufficiency through structured documentation, team training, and handoff frameworks that allow clients to maintain and extend their systems.

At Matillion, we are committed to providing compensation in line with market standards based on the role, job family, job level and country. This role's estimated annual salaried pay range for this position is £124,240 - £186,360. The final salary will be based on your relevant skills, experience and qualifications demonstrated in the hiring process.

More about Matillion We operate a flexible working culture that promotes work-life balance, with benefits including:

• Company Equity
• 30 days holiday + bank holiday
• 5 days paid volunteering leave
• Private Health Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Pension
• Access to mental health support

Your Safety Matillion recruiters will only contact you from @matillion.com email addresses. We occasionally work with trusted recruiting partners; they will always tell you they are working on our behalf. We will never ask for money, fees, or bank details at any point in the hiring process. If something feels off, trust that instinct. Don't click any links. Go straight to matillion.com/careers to verify open roles or reach us at talent@matillion.com. Want to know more? Don't tick every box? Apply anyway. We hire for potential, not just experience. A member of our Talent Acquisition team will be in touch.

Cannot find anything suitable role right now? We still want to hear from you. Drop us a line at talent@matillion.com. Find out more about life on #TeamGreen here. Matillion is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our team. Matillion prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Matillion does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by law.