Forward Deployed engineer

Forward Deployed Engineer
Location: Remote (frequent travel to customer and partner sites)
Unable to support visas/H1B
SUMMARY
MARA is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead the last-mile implementation of Vertebr.ai, MARA's energy orchestration platform for grid-flexible compute and AI data center infrastructure. Vertebr.ai has been proven internally across MARA's compute and mining operations and is now being deployed at third-party renewable generation, utility, data center, and partner sites as a commercial product.
This role owns the path from signed customer commitment to live, optimized deployment. You will work hands-on at customer and partner sites to install, integrate, configure, commission, troubleshoot, and hand off production deployments. You will connect Vertebr.ai to real-world energy and compute infrastructure, including SCADA systems, metering, grid and market signals, site telemetry, and ASIC or GPU compute fleets.
The ideal candidate combines strong software skills with practical field engineering instincts. You should be comfortable writing Python, working with APIs and telemetry, debugging connectivity and control issues, engaging directly with customer engineering and operations teams, and translating field learnings back into product and engineering improvements. This is a high-ownership role for someone who thrives in real operating environments and can make complex deployments work under real-world constraints.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Deployment Planning & Site Readiness
Lead technical deployment planning for customer and partner implementations from kickoff through go-live.
Review site requirements, integration points, network constraints, telemetry availability, compute infrastructure, and operational readiness before deployment.
Partner with Sales Engineering, Site Infrastructure, Engineering, Energy, and customer teams to confirm scope, assumptions, success criteria, and deployment dependencies.
Identify technical risks, site gaps, integration blockers, and operational constraints early in the implementation process.
Translate customer and site requirements into practical deployment plans, configuration steps, validation criteria, and handoff requirements.
On-site Deployment & Integration
Lead on-site implementation of Vertebr.ai at renewable generation sites, utility environments, partner data centers, and other customer locations.
Integrate the platform with site systems, including SCADA, metering, grid signals, market data, site telemetry, networking infrastructure, and ASIC or GPU compute fleets.
Configure energy orchestration logic to reflect each site's curtailment profile, grid constraints, operating procedures, and economic objectives.
Configure APIs, telemetry flows, control interfaces, data mappings, and site-specific deployment settings.
Work directly with customer engineers, operators, site technicians, vendors, and internal teams to complete installation, integration, and checkout activities.
Commissioning, Validation & Field Operations
Run commissioning activities and structured performance pilots to validate ramp response, uptime, flexible-load behavior, telemetry quality, and operational performance against agreed targets.
Test and verify integration points, control paths, alarms, operating modes, monitoring coverage, failover behavior, and customer handoff requirements.
Troubleshoot software, connectivity, telemetry, control, device integration, and site infrastructure issues in the field.
Establish monitoring, operational runbooks, escalation paths, and handoff procedures for steady-state operations.
Support post-deployment stabilization, issue resolution, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement of live customer deployments.
Energy, Compute & Industrial Systems Integration
Integrate with industrial and energy systems such as SCADA, meters, grid or market signal providers, controls systems, and compute fleet management tools.
Work with real-time telemetry, APIs, data pipelines, device interfaces, and site communication networks to support reliable orchestration.
Apply knowledge of flexible load, interruptible load, curtailment, demand response, grid constraints, and energy economics to deployment configuration.
Collaborate with SCADA, power systems, software, data, networking, and security teams to ensure deployments are reliable, secure, and operationally supportable.
Help standardize integration patterns for repeatable deployments across different customer environments and infrastructure types.
Customer Technical Partnership
Serve as the trusted on-site technical partner for customer engineering, operations, energy, and grid teams during deployment and pilot execution.
Communicate technical issues, risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations clearly to both field teams and executive stakeholders.
Partner with customers to resolve deployment blockers, validate performance, and support operational adoption.
Coordinate with commercial and sales engineering teams during pre-sales, pilots, and customer expansion opportunities to scope realistic, deliverable solutions.
Represent MARA professionally in field environments where reliability, clarity, and customer confidence are critical.
Product Feedback, Documentation & Repeatability
Capture field requirements, deployment learnings, customer constraints, and integration patterns and translate them into clear product and engineering feedback.
Build site-specific runbooks, deployment playbooks, reference configurations, troubleshooting guides, and handoff documentation.
Create reusable templates and implementation assets that make each subsequent deployment faster, safer, and more consistent.
Help improve deployment tooling, observability, configuration management, and field support workflows.
Close the loop between customers, Commercial, Engineering, Energy, and Mining Information Systems teams to ensure field experience informs the Vertebr.ai roadmap.
QUALIFICATIONS
5+ years of experience in implementation engineering, solutions engineering, field engineering, systems engineering, software deployment, controls integration, or related technical roles.
Hands-on experience deploying software, control systems, industrial systems, energy platforms, or infrastructure technology in production environments.
Strong software skills, including working proficiency in Python and comfort with APIs, telemetry, logs, configuration files, and real-time data flows.
Experience integrating with industrial, energy, or infrastructure systems such as SCADA, metering, grid signals, market data, compute fleet management, or site telemetry platforms.
Solid understanding of energy and grid concepts, including flexible load, interruptible load, curtailment, demand response, and operational constraints.
Strong field troubleshooting skills and ability to diagnose issues across software, networks, telemetry, control interfaces, site systems, and customer environments.
Ability to operate independently on-site, make practical decisions under real-world constraints, and escalate risks appropriately.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to work directly with customer engineering, operations, energy, and grid teams.
Ability to translate between field realities and product / engineering requirements.
Strong documentation habits and ability to produce clear runbooks, deployment notes, configuration references, and handoff materials.
Willingness to travel frequently to customer and partner sites, including remote generation, utility, data center, and infrastructure locations.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Experience with containerized or modular deployments, edge environments, distributed control systems, or site-local infrastructure.
Experience with SCADA protocols, industrial communications, Modbus, DNP3, OPC UA, MQTT, or related integration technologies.
Familiarity with ERCOT, CAISO, MISO, PJM, WECC, or other market operations and interconnection environments.
Background in data center operations, bitcoin mining, HPC infrastructure, AI infrastructure, renewable generation, utility operations, or energy storage.
Experience with ASIC or GPU fleet management, compute orchestration, telemetry systems, or large-scale infrastructure operations.
Experience running customer pilots, site acceptance testing, commissioning procedures, performance validation, or production handoffs.
Experience working in a startup, new product, or first-of-kind deployment environment where repeatable processes had to be built while deployments were underway.
MARA Holdings, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Benefits
Salary - $190k
Bonus
Great PTO offering
Self forged career path
Remote

Work arrangement
Yes