Principal Forward Deployed Engineer (relocation to Germany)

We are looking for a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to join our team with eventual relocation to Germany. EPAM is renowned for delivering cutting-edge technological solutions to transform businesses worldwide.

We are building AI-native solutions for our clients - products where LLM and its harness are the core of the value. This is a builder's role: you and your team are responsible for building agentic systems, writing the production code, and standing up the evals and observability. You will work closely with SMEs and end-users to understand where the real value lies, and you design the feedback loops.

The deadline for submission is 01.12.2026.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and ship end-to-end AI-native systems including agents, workflows, RAG and integration harnesses
• Write production-grade Python code for integrations, APIs, data access and deployment
• Work directly with subject matter experts and end-users through interviews, user acceptance testing and workflow observations
• Engage early in projects to shape use cases and check technical feasibility
• Build evaluation pipelines and use them to prove system utility
• Design for failure in the agent loop by implementing retries, model fallbacks, cost limits and human-in-the-loop actions
• Capture domain expertise and repeatable workflows to ensure success across engagements. Troubleshoot and resolve technical challenges in collaboration with the broader team
• Ensure adherence to engineering excellence standards including test-driven development and continuous integration practices

Requirements

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with a strong track record of building production AI and LLM applications
• Expert-level Python skills and solid software engineering fundamentals
• Hands-on experience with agentic frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph or Semantic Kernel and major LLM providers
• Strong RAG and retrieval skills including vector databases, embeddings, hybrid search and context management
• Production deployment experience on major cloud platforms like AWS, Azure or GCP with containerization and CI/CD
• Proven experience evaluating generative AI quality using custom evaluation frameworks and observability tools
• Proven capability to work closely with clients, lead discovery conversations and explain technical trade-offs to diverse audiences
• Strong agent-design judgment and sound engineering judgment under ambiguity to balance speed, quality and scope
• C1 level English language proficiency
• An academic degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or a related field

Nice to have

• Experience designing experiments, A/B testing and iterating on AI products against real user behavior
• Strong background in NLP, Data Science or applied machine learning with experience moving models into production
• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent-to-Agent (A2A), Agent Skills and emerging agent standards
• Experience with enterprise AI platforms such as AWS Bedrock AgentCore, Databricks Genie or Microsoft Foundry
• Exposure to AI governance, security and compliance including guardrails and prompt-injection prevention

Benefits

• 30 days holiday per annum
• Company Pension Scheme
• Regular performance assessments
• Discount on Fitness-First Black Membership
• bitkom - Corporate Benefits
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) (subject to certain eligibility requirements)
• Learning and development opportunities, including in-house training and coaching, professional certifications, and courses
• Friendly and enjoyable working team
• Regular corporate and social events
• Flexible and remote working opportunities
• Award-winning workplace: Great Place To Work® certified in 2026, Kununu (Top Company 2022–2026), NewWork Business Award 2025 for outstanding culture, innovation and employee satisfaction.

*All benefits and perks are subject to certain eligibility requirements

• COREculture: Flat hierarchies, plenty of freedom and the guiding principle “Competence Leads” - the best idea counts for us
• COREmember: Become part of a motivated, smart team and grow with us
• COREdevelopment: From day 1, you will take on responsibility and continuously develop yourself through training and semi-annual feedback meetings
• COREbenefits: Top IT, healthy snacks & drinks, mobility offers, flexible travel policy and mobile working - wherever it suits you best