Forward Deployed Engineer | SAAS AI

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer | Senior Product Engineer 

Location: Melbourne or Sydney, Australia

Sector: AI-Driven Logistics / Enterprise SaaS

Overview
We are partnered with a fast-scaling, VC-backed technology company building advanced digital logistics infrastructure used by major global retailers and enterprise delivery organisations. Their platform powers millions of deliveries every month, and they are now expanding their engineering presence across APAC.

They are seeking an exceptional Principal Engineer - a senior technical leader who will own core architecture, drive engineering standards, and spearhead high-impact projects across their global logistics and AI platform.
This role sits at the forefront of real-world, high-scale systems engineering. You'll operate across architecture, product, and hands-on development, shaping a platform that connects merchants, carriers, customers, and complex logistics networks worldwide.

The Role

As Principal Engineer, you will be a key technical authority within the engineering organisation. You will design and evolve mission-critical systems, guide technical direction, mentor teams, and influence product strategy.
You will play a foundational role as the company scales in Australia — helping to define engineering culture, delivery practices, and the next generation of platform capabilities.

This is a high-impact senior IC role: part architecture, part product, part engineering leadership, and fully hands-on.

What You'll Do

• Architect and evolve distributed systems underpinning global logistics and delivery orchestration
• Lead the design, build, and optimisation of backend services, core APIs, and platform components
• Partner with cross-functional teams across product, AI, operations, and customer engineering
• Provide deep technical leadership on high-impact initiatives across APAC and global teams
• Drive engineering standards, scalability, performance, and reliability across the platform
• Mentor engineers, guide technical decisions, and elevate overall engineering quality
• Investigate and solve complex real-world operational challenges across integrations, fleets, and high-volume workflows

About You

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
• Proven experience architecting and scaling distributed or high-volume systems
• Strong backend engineering expertise (APIs, infrastructure, services, data flows)
• Ability to lead technical direction while remaining deeply hands-on
• Comfortable influencing product strategy and working with senior stakeholders
• Excellent communicator capable of working across engineering, product, and enterprise customers
• Passion for solving complex, real-world system challenges at global scale

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to join a rapidly scaling, well-funded tech business with a clear mission and huge market pull.
You will:

• Influence core architecture and product direction
• Own high-impact platform initiatives
• Work across global teams in AI, product, and engineering
• Play a defining role in how the Australian engineering function grows
• See your work directly powering enterprise logistics and millions of deliveries

If you're a senior engineer who wants to build category-defining technology at massive scale — this is your platform.

What's On Offer

• High-impact senior IC role in a fast-growth environment
• Competitive compensation + equity potential
• Flexible hybrid working
• Health and wellbeing benefits
• Quarterly on-sites with global engineering teams
• Opportunity to shape a foundational APAC engineering team