Forward Deployed Engineer - Physical AI

About the Role

The role involves working on the technical frontline, identifying patterns worth productizing, and collaborating with the Product and Engineering teams to integrate these patterns into the core platform. The primary input to the Nebius Physical AI roadmap comes from field work, making this position pivotal in shaping the future of Physical AI development at Nebius.

What You Will Do

• Own end-to-end technical execution for each strategic account, including discovery, scoping, system design, build, and production rollout.
• Partner directly with customer engineering and domain teams to translate ambiguous problems into deployable production systems.
• Build and own physical AI workflows across real-world data, synthetic data, model training, evaluation, deployment, and failure capture.
• Develop practical ML and evaluation pipelines for perception, autonomy, world models, and policy-learning use cases.
• Design scenario-based evaluation workflows, regression testing, failure analysis, and before-versus-after model comparisons.
• Work with customer datasets, including video, images, telemetry, and annotations, to integrate them into the platform.
• Collaborate with the Field CTO and the Head of Physical AI to align technical execution with company goals.
• Identify patterns across accounts that are worth productizing and partner with Product and Engineering to fold them into the core platform.
• Communicate technical plans, progress, and results to both internal stakeholders and external partners.

What We Are Looking For

• A senior engineer with the seniority and judgment of a founding engineer or staff individual contributor.
• Proven experience in developing and deploying AI models, especially in Physical AI domains such as robotics and autonomous systems.
• Strong background in machine learning, computer vision, or related fields.
• Experience working with large datasets, preferably in cloud environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently and make consequential technical decisions without waiting for permission.
• Experience with Agile development methodologies and version control systems like Git.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to debug complex systems.

Nice to Have

• Experience with containerization using Docker and orchestration using Kubernetes.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms, especially those used for AI and machine learning workloads.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, or GitLab CI/CD.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks.
• Certification in machine learning, AI, or a related field.

Benefits and Perks

• The opportunity to work on cutting-edge Physical AI technologies and contribute to the development of the next generation of AI systems.
• Founder-level autonomy in an individual contributor role, allowing for significant impact on the company's direction.
• Direct exposure to the most important companies defining Physical AI, providing a unique network and learning opportunity.
• The resources of a public cloud platform behind every line of code shipped, ensuring scalability and reliability.
• Competitive compensation package, including salary, equity, and benefits.
• Flexible working hours and remote work options, allowing for a healthy work-life balance.
• Access to professional development opportunities, including training, conferences, and workshops.
• A dynamic and supportive team environment that fosters innovation and collaboration.

• Highlight your autonomy: Showcase examples where you've worked independently on complex technical projects, making significant decisions without supervision.
• Emphasize Physical AI experience: If you have experience in robotics, autonomous systems, or similar areas, make sure to highlight it, as it's directly relevant to the role.
• Prepare to talk about failure: Be ready to discuss how you've handled failure in previous roles, especially in relation to AI model deployment and iteration.
• Showcase your communication skills: The ability to communicate complex technical ideas to non-technical stakeholders is crucial; prepare examples that demonstrate your skill in this area.
• Research Nebius and Physical AI: Understand the current state of Physical AI and how Nebius is positioned in the market; this will show your interest in the role and the company.
• Be ready to discuss toolchains and workflows: Familiarize yourself with the latest tools and methodologies in AI development and deployment; be prepared to discuss how you've utilized them in previous roles.