Principal Forward-Deployed Engineer (AI)

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with regular travel to other GCC client sites; approximately 40% regional travel and 10% occasional global travel.

Company

hirify.global is a technology consultancy helping clients solve complex business problems through software, product strategy, design, and engineering.

What you will do

• Lead lighthouse product engagements through the 3/3/3 cycle: concept in three days, prototype in three weeks, and a production-grade minimum lovable product in three months.
• Set technical strategy, architecture, stack selection, delivery cadence, and technical scope for client pursuits and engagements.
• Run concept sprints, executive workshops, technical pitches, and product discovery with client leaders, strategists, designers, and engineers.
• Design and evaluate AI-powered prototypes using golden datasets, offline evaluations, human review, guardrails, and cost and latency budgets.
• Establish production delivery practices including continuous delivery, testing, observability, security, privacy by design, and agentic workflows with human oversight.
• Lead across multiple pods, mentor engineers, maintain architectural alignment, and develop reusable practices and reference architectures.

Requirements

• Strong proficiency in Python or TypeScript, working knowledge of the other, and production experience in at least one additional language.
• Hands-on experience with LLM providers, RAG, vector databases, agent frameworks, AI evaluation, observability, and AI-assisted development tools.
• Deep expertise in at least one major cloud platform, Infrastructure as Code, Kubernetes or Docker, and automated CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with API design, event-driven streaming, microservices, enterprise integrations, modern data platforms, and orchestration tools.
• Ability to build React or Next.js prototypes and apply TDD, pair programming, continuous deployment, threat modeling, security, and privacy practices.
• Experience working in complex regulatory environments, including Saudi PDPL or comparable frameworks, and readiness to work in Riyadh with GCC client travel.

Nice to have

• Experience delivering in GCC markets or international settings.
• Arabic language proficiency.
• Public advocacy through talks, open-source work, or publications.

Culture & Benefits

• High-visibility work on flagship client projects and industry-facing case studies.
• Collaboration across global markets, industries, and multidisciplinary teams.
• Hands-on technical leadership combined with product strategy, user experience, and AI innovation.
• Tailored coaching, learning opportunities, development programs, and an inclusive culture.
• Autonomy to shape architecture, technical positions, pod composition, and delivery decisions within established standards.