---
title: 'Forward Deployment Engineer at SambaNova Systems'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployment-engineer-sambanova-systems-tokyo-hn5tww0bdgfc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-15'
---

# Forward Deployment Engineer at SambaNova Systems

- **Company:** SambaNova Systems
- **Location:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Compensation:** JPY 105k–JPY 130k
- **Posted:** 2026-09-14
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15
- **Apply:** https://sambanova.ai/sambanova-available-positions/?gh_jid=6191763004

## Job description

SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova's technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.

Join the company that's building the future of AI computing. SambaNova is disrupting the AI and high-performance computing space with an integrated hardware and software platform.

Our SambaStack inference serving platform is pushing the boundaries of inference serving for generative AI and large language models. We are a team of passionate innovators tackling some of the world's most challenging computational problems. We help enterprises and service providers host their own AI inference platforms, powered by our state-of-the-art RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) hardware architecture. Our cloud-agnostic, enterprise-grade inference serving platform enables seamless deployment, management, and scaling of foundation model workloads at production scale.

SambaNova is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)  for our SambaStack based product portfolio in our Customer Success Organization.

Responsibilities:

- Embed directly with strategic enterprise customers to design, build, and deploy production GenAI applications on SambaNova's SN40L platform and SambaStack based product portfolio
- Architect and implement LLM-powered workflows — including RAG pipelines, multi-agent systems, fine-tuning workflows, and coding solutions — tailored to each customer's data, infrastructure, and business goals.
- Optimize AI inference performance on SambaNova hardware; benchmark model throughput, latency, and accuracy against customer requirements and competitor baselines.
- Troubleshoot and resolve production issues end-to-end across model, software, and hardware layers — acting as the first and last line of technical escalation in the field.
- Translate customer needs into clear product requirements and engineering feedback; serve as the primary voice of field reality to SambaNova's Product and Engineering teams.
- Partner with Account Executives and Solutions Engineers to shape technical sales strategy, scope engagements, and demonstrate platform differentiation during evaluations and proof-of-concepts.
- Develop reusable accelerators, reference architectures, and internal playbooks that scale learnings from one deployment to many.
- Present technical findings, architecture decisions, and roadmap input at customer executive briefings and internal forums; represent SambaNova at industry conferences and events.

Qualifications:

- 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience, with a strong record of shipping production AI/ML systems.
- Deep expertise in GenAI application development: LLM orchestration, RAG, agentic frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex, DSPy), prompt engineering, and evaluation pipelines.
- Strong foundations in ML fundamentals — model training, fine-tuning, inference optimization, quantization, and performance benchmarking.
- Proficiency in Python (required); working knowledge of C++ or CUDA a strong plus for hardware-layer debugging.
- Experience deploying AI workloads on cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP) and familiarity with containerization, orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker), and MLOps tooling.
- Comfortable engaging directly with customers: able to run technical discovery, set expectations, push back constructively, and present to executive and practitioner audiences alike.
- Bachelor's or graduate degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent practical experience.
- Willingness to travel up to 50% to customer sites — flexible based on engagement needs.

Bonus qualifications:

- Experience with AI accelerators or custom silicon (TPUs  etc.)
- CUDA / low-level GPU programming
- Familiarity with VLLM / SGLang
- Enterprise AI deployments in regulated industries

Base Salary Range:

Base Pay Range ¥10,500,000—¥13,000,000 JPY

Submission Guidelines Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified.

## EEO Policy

SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.

## About SambaNova Systems

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: SambaNova Systems provides a full-stack AI platform, from specialized Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips to an agentic AI inference platform, designed for enterprises and governments.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series E)
- **Headquarters**: San Jose, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Rodrigo Liang (Co-founder & CEO), Kunle Olukotun (Co-founder & Chief Technologist)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Artificial Intelligence / Enterprise AI Infrastructure
- **Target Customers**: Developers, large enterprises, government agencies, and data centers (B2B)
- **Mission Statement**: To be the most efficient and adaptable AI platform on the planet, empowering enterprises to control the trajectory of their data and AI future.

## Products & Services
- **SambaNova Suite**: The company's core product, a fully integrated AI platform that includes hardware, software, and models. It provides OpenAI-compatible APIs for inference.
- **SambaRack (SN40 & SN50)**: A state-of-the-art, rack-scale system optimized for AI inference. The SN50 is the fifth-generation system designed for fast agentic inference with high energy efficiency (average of 10 kWh for SN40).
- **Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU)**: A custom-designed AI chip (SN40L, SN50) with a unique three-tier memory architecture that delivers high speed and throughput for large models while using less power than traditional GPUs.
- **SambaOrchestrator**: A management tool for deploying, monitoring, and auto-scaling AI models across data centers.
- **Sovereign AI Platform**: An offering for governments and enterprises to keep data secure and governed while enabling business teams to use AI.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (Private company).
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$1.484B** (raised over multiple rounds, including a $350M Series E in early 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Intel, GV (Google Ventures), BlackRock, Redline Capital Management, Atlantic Bridge Capital.
- **Growth Signals**: 
    - Raised a $350M Series E in early 2026.
    - A launch partner for Meta's Llama 4 series.
    - First platform to support all three variants of Llama 3.1 (8B, 70B, and 405B).
    - Has filed 313 patents related to parallel computing, computer memory, and instruction processing.
    - Customers include Blackbox and Texas Advanced Computing Center.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full-Stack Integration**: Unlike many competitors, SambaNova controls the entire AI stack from the chip (RDU) to the software and models, allowing for deep optimization.
- **Efficiency**: The RDU's dataflow architecture is designed for high performance with significantly lower power consumption (best tokens per watt), a key differentiator for scaling AI.
- **Open-Source Focus**: The company is a strong supporter of open-source AI models, being a launch partner for major releases like Meta's Llama 4.

## Strategic Focus
- **Agentic AI**: The company is heavily focused on enabling complex, multi-step agentic AI workflows, with the SN50 chip and SambaOrchestrator built for this purpose.
- **Sovereign AI**: Targeting government and enterprise clients who need secure, on-premises or private cloud AI solutions.
- **Scaling Inference**: Prioritizing high-speed, low-latency inference for the largest open-source models (e.g., DeepSeek, Llama) at scale.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as a "smart and motivated team" that values "talent first," "innovation that impacts," and "trust and integrity." The company emphasizes collaboration across departments and access to founders.
- **Work Environment**: Offers flexible working hours and a hybrid/remote-friendly policy (Flexible PTO in the U.S.).
- **Notable Perks**: 
    - Flexible PTO
    - Parental Leave
    - Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
    - 401k/Pensions
    - Gym Access
    - Mentorship and buddy programs
    - Internship programs
- **Engineering Culture**: A deep-tech environment where you work on cutting-edge AI hardware (RDUs) and software, pushing the boundaries of AI performance.

## Sources
1. [SambaNova.ai](https://sambanova.ai/)
2. [SambaNova About Us](https://sambanova.ai/company/about)
3. [SambaNova Careers](https://sambanova.ai/company/careers)
4. [SambaNova Job Openings](https://sambanova.ai/company/careers/job-openings)
5. [CB Insights Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/sambanova-systems)

## Other roles at SambaNova Systems

- [Principal RTL Design Engineer, IO & Memory Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-rtl-design-engineer-io-memory-systems-sambanova-systems-austin-texas-webp5gp184n5) — Austin Texas, United States / San Jose California, United States
- [Director of Product, Ecosystem](https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-product-ecosystem-sambanova-systems-san-jose-california-xy2zn70m0c12) — San Jose California, United States
- [Principal PM, Product Strategy and Competitive](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-pm-product-strategy-and-competitive-sambanova-systems-san-jose-9zp5vd556gbj) — San Jose California, United States
- [Principal PLM Configuration Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-plm-configuration-manager-sambanova-systems-san-jose-california-sm3z0mycvarq) — San Jose California, United States
- [Senior Principal Runtime Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-principal-runtime-engineer-sambanova-systems-stockholm-g80m89md466t) — Stockholm, Sweden
- [Vice President, EMEIA Sales](https://feeny.ai/job/vice-president-emeia-sales-sambanova-systems-london-england-y6tdnwdfyq2p) — London England, United Kingdom
- [Senior Technical Recruiter - Hardware](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-recruiter-hardware-sambanova-systems-austin-texas-wxszyaz6kyy6) — Austin Texas, United States / San Jose California, United States
- [Principal Engineer - SambaRack](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineer-sambarack-sambanova-systems-bengaluru-a63n6cv0rvd1) — Bengaluru, India
- [Senior Principal Engineer - SambaRack](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-principal-engineer-sambarack-sambanova-systems-bengaluru-3g8e6v93rpd0) — Bengaluru, India
- [Software Architect - SambaRack](https://feeny.ai/job/software-architect-sambarack-sambanova-systems-bengaluru-1ha7m42tb5jx) — Bengaluru, India