engineering
Posted Jan 7Forward-Deployed Engineer
at Vercel
Austin, United StatesHybrid
Responsibilities
- Lead complex frontend migrations —modernizing legacy React, Vue, or other frameworks to Next.js, including Pages to App Router transitions, incremental adoption strategies, and large-scale codebase transformations.
- Conduct technical assessments and code audits , analyzing customer codebases for performance bottlenecks, architectural anti-patterns, and optimization opportunities—delivering actionable roadmaps that drive measurable improvements.
- Architect and implement high-performance Next.js applications , leveraging App Router, Server Components, streaming, ISR, edge functions, and advanced rendering strategies to meet enterprise scale and performance requirements.
- Optimize Core Web Vitals and application performance , using tools like Vercel Speed Insights to diagnose issues and implement fixes that improve SEO, conversion rates, and user experience.
- Build production AI solutions using Vercel's AI SDK and AI Cloud—including conversational interfaces, production agents, MCP servers, and agentic workflows that transform customer operations.
- Drive enablement and knowledge transfer through workshops, pair programming, and documentation—ensuring customer teams can extend and maintain solutions independently.
- Navigate complex enterprise environments by building relationships with stakeholders across engineering, product, and executive teams—translating technical capabilities into business outcomes.
Requirements
- As the team behind v0, Next.js, and AI SDK, Vercel helps customers like Ramp, Supreme, PayPal, and Under Armour build for the AI-native web.
- This is not a traditional consulting role—you will embed directly with our most strategic enterprise customers to drive transformational outcomes across frontend modernization, platform migrations, and AI adoption.
- In this role, you will lead complex Next.js migrations, architect high-performance applications, and build production AI solutions—all within customer environments.
- You'll work hands-on-keyboard alongside customer teams, whether you're migrating a legacy React application to App Router, conducting a deep-dive code audit, or deploying production agents using Vercel's AI SDK.
- Embed with strategic customers to build production applications—working within their systems, understanding their constraints, and shipping TypeScript code that goes live.
- Participate in pre-sales activities by providing technical expertise during discovery calls, scoping sessions, and proposal development for migrations, audits, and AI transformation engagements.
- Expert-level TypeScript skills —this is your primary language. You write production TypeScript daily and have strong opinions on type safety, patterns, and tooling.
- Deep expertise in Next.js , with a proven track record of architecting and delivering complex applications using App Router, Server Components, server-side rendering (SSR), static generation (SSG), incremental static regeneration (ISR), and edge functions. Demonstrated
- experience leading frontend migrations —you've modernized legacy applications to Next.js, navigated incremental adoption strategies, and understand the challenges of migrating large codebases in production environments.
- Mastery of React and its ecosystem, including advanced state management, performance optimization, and modern patterns like streaming, suspense, and concurrent features. Production
- experience with LLMs and AI applications , including prompt engineering, agent development, and tool use patterns. Familiarity with Vercel's AI SDK is strongly preferred.
- Exceptional communication skills with the ability to conduct technical discovery, present to executives, mentor engineers, and build lasting customer relationships—all with a low-ego, collaborative approach.
- Have led large-scale migrations from legacy frameworks (Create React App, Gatsby, custom webpack setups) to Next.js in enterprise environments.
- experience diagnosing and fixing LCP, CLS, and INP issues at scale. Have
- experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP), building MCP servers, or implementing complex tool-use patterns in production AI applications.
- Have led enterprise AI transformation initiatives, including building production agents that automated manual processes or replaced legacy systems.
- Have worked with micro-frontends, module federation, or multi-team frontend architectures.
- Have contributed to the Next.js, React, or AI SDK open-source projects, or maintain popular related libraries. Have
- experience with enterprise deployment patterns including security reviews, compliance requirements, and multi-region architectures.
- Have a background in financial services, healthcare, retail/e-commerce, or media—industries with complex frontend ecosystems and growing AI adoption.
- Have spoken at conferences or published thought leadership on frontend architecture, migrations, or AI applications. Benefits:
Experience
- Contribute to our service evolution by identifying repeatable patterns, building reusable components, and sharing implementation insights back to Product and Engineering teams. About you: 5+ years of
Benefits
- Willingness to travel 25-40% to customer sites for embedded work and relationship building. Bonus if you:
- Great compensation package and stock options.
- Inclusive Healthcare Package.
- Flexible Time Off - Flexible vacation policy with a recommended 4-weeks per year, and paid holidays.
- The San Francisco, CA base pay range for this role is $137,000.00 - $207,000.00. This salary range is an estimate. Actual salary will be based on job related skills,
- experience and location. Pay ranges outside San Francisco may be adjusted based on employee location. The total compensation package also includes
- benefits and equity-based compensation. Your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your location during the hiring process.
Additional details
- Vercel gives developers the tools and cloud infrastructure to build, scale, and secure a faster, more personalized web.
- Our mission is to enable the world to ship the best products.
- That starts with creating a place where everyone can do their best work.
- Whether you're building on our platform, supporting our customers, or shaping our story: You can just ship things. About the role:
- You will be equally comfortable leading a technical discovery session with engineering leadership as you are refactoring a complex rendering strategy or optimizing an agentic workflow.
- Our Forward-Deployed Engineer operate with high agency and autonomy.
- You'll navigate ambiguous enterprise environments, assess technical debt, design migration strategies, and deliver measurable business value—all while building long-term relationships that expand our partnership with each customer.
- You will report to the Director of Professional Services and will be remote-first with significant travel (25-40%) to customer sites for embedded engagements. What you will do:
- experience in software engineering with at least 2 years in a customer-facing technical role (consulting, solutions engineering, forward deployed engineering, or technical founder experience).
- High agency with comfort in ambiguity —you thrive when given a problem to solve rather than a task to complete, and you can navigate complex organizations to drive outcomes.