Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Cloud AAI – Google – Waterloo, ON

Google Cloud is looking for a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer to join the Applied AI (AAI) Agent Engineering, Retail team. This role is available across Waterloo, ON, Toronto, ON, and New York, NY — offering the chance to work at the cutting edge of enterprise AI agent deployment for some of the world’s most strategic customers. If you’re the kind of engineer who thrives at the intersection of deep technical work and direct customer impact, this one’s worth a close look.

This isn’t a traditional back-office engineering role. You’ll be embedded alongside select, high-priority customers — co-developing and deploying AI agents and GenAI-native solutions in real production environments. Think of it as startup agility operating within Google’s infrastructure, with direct access to model builders and the authority to write bespoke code, shape product direction, and move AI from concept to scale.

About the Role: Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

The Cloud AAI Solutions Consulting team sits at the heart of Google Cloud’s enterprise AI strategy. As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, you’ll be the operational bridge between Google’s engineering and product teams and the strategic customers who are navigating the shift from legacy architectures to Gemini-powered, GenAI-native stacks. Your work directly defines best practices and deployment frameworks across the Cloud ecosystem — setting the standard for how enterprise AI agents are built and scaled.

This role requires someone who can operate at every layer of the stack — from architecture design and code contributions to CI/CD pipelines, performance tuning, and production readiness. Collaboration is central: you’ll work closely with Solution Architects, Engineering teams, and Product stakeholders to synchronize efforts and translate field insights into strategic product improvements.

Benefits and Salary

Google offers a highly competitive compensation package for this role. In Canada, the salary range is $182,000 – $187,000 CAD, plus a 15% bonus target, equity grants through Alphabet Inc., and a comprehensive benefits package. Full details on Google’s benefits are available on their careers site.

Responsibilities

As a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, your day-to-day work spans customer-facing engagements and internal technical contributions. You’ll be empowered to act like an owner — writing code, building tools, and feeding real-world insights back into Google’s product roadmap. These responsibilities reflect the dual nature of the role: hands-on engineering and strategic technical leadership.

• Partner directly with select, strategic customers to design, co-develop, debug, and deploy AI agents and solutions
• Write bespoke code and develop custom tooling, including direct contributions to the core product codebase
• Systematize learnings from customer engagements to create reusable tools, robust documentation, and deployment accelerators
• Serve as a feedback loop to core Product and Engineering teams, synthesizing field insights to influence AI strategy
• Provide technical guidance on agent improvement, performance tuning, CI/CD pipelines, and production readiness

Requirements / Skills

Google is looking for engineers who bring both technical depth and the ability to work directly with enterprise customer teams. The ideal candidate has strong foundations in AI and distributed systems and can operate confidently across software design, development, and deployment. Preferred candidates bring additional experience in ML infrastructure and a track record of shipping products at scale.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience in a relevant technical field
• 5 years of experience with artificial intelligence, distributed systems, large language models (LLMs), and high performance computing
• 5 years of software development experience (preferred)
• 5 years of experience testing and launching software products, plus 3 years in software design/architecture (preferred)
• 5 years of experience with speech/audio, reinforcement learning, or ML infrastructure (preferred)
• Customer-facing experience working directly with enterprise or strategic customer teams (preferred)

How to Apply

To apply, use the official Google Careers link below. Make sure your resume is up to date and clearly reflects your experience with AI systems, large language models, and software development before submitting.

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