Job Title : Forward Deployed Engineer - 3

Why This Role Exists

Enterprise logistics is messy. Every client's supply chain runs on different constraints, different data, and a different definition of what good looks like. A great product alone doesn't fix that. Someone has to sit with the client, earn their trust, and make the technology work in their environment - not in a demo environment.

That's a Forward Deployed Engineer.

FDEs at Locus don't feed a roadmap. They own the outcome of a client's deployment - from the first architecture conversation to the day the system is live and moving real trucks. If you're the kind of engineer who gets restless building things no one uses, and you'd rather see your code cut costs and protect SLAs for a Fortune 500 shipper, this is the role.

About Locus

Locus is an agentic Transportation Management System, battle-tested across 350+ deployments in 30+ countries and trusted by enterprises like Unilever, Nestle, and Siam Makro. The platform unifies orders, capacity, and carrier networks into a single living plan - with AI co-pilots that surface risk early and recommend the next move to protect SLAs and reduce empty miles.

In 2025, Locus joined the Ingka Group (IKEA Retail) family. We operate independently while accelerating the mission: make global supply chains faster, smarter, and more sustainable. Headquartered in Bangalore, we have teams in the U.S., U.K., UAE, and Southeast Asia.

What You Will Do

Think of this as a startup CTO role, embedded inside a client's operation. You work in a small team with high autonomy and full accountability for delivery.

Own the Client's Outcome

Embed with enterprise customers - on-site and remotely - to understand their supply chain operations, data estate, and what success actually looks like for their business.
Scope and design technical solutions for messy, real-world logistics problems - with a clear line to measurable impact: cost per delivery, SLA performance, empty kilometres.
Own the full deployment lifecycle: architecture through go-live through steady-state. You're accountable for the outcome, not just the code.

Build and Ship

Design, build, and maintain backend services in Node.js or Python that power routing, planning, and execution at enterprise scale.
Build and own the integrations connecting Locus to client ERPs, TMS, WMS, and OMS platforms - these integrations are often the riskiest part of a deployment.
Write production code that runs under real load. If it isn't in production, it hasn't shipped.

Be the Technical Interface with the Client

Run architecture reviews, lead integration workshops, and represent Locus in executive steering meetings. You need to be credible at every level of the client organisation.
Bring field learnings back into the product and platform teams. Some of Locus's best features started as a client workaround.
Push back when a client request would compromise platform integrity - and propose a better alternative.

Show Up On-Site

Travel to client sites - domestic and international, up to 30% of the time - for kick-offs, integration sprints, go-lives, and post-live reviews.
Build the kind of relationship where the client's ops lead calls you directly when something goes wrong at 2am, not a support ticket.
Be comfortable wherever the work is: a warehouse floor, a logistics control tower, a C-suite boardroom.

Make the Next Deployment Easier

Document architecture decisions, integration patterns, and deployment playbooks - every engagement should make the next one faster.
Work closely with Product, Customer Success, and Platform Engineering. Share what you're seeing in the field don't wait to be asked.
Mentor junior FDEs and raise the technical bar across the team.

Who You Are

We're not looking for a backend engineer who will also talk to customers. We're looking for someone who is genuinely energised by deploying technology into difficult, real-world environments - and who measures themselves by whether the client's operation improved.

5-8 years of backend engineering, with at least 2 years in a client-facing or deployment-heavy role.
A track record of shipping production systems in Node.js or Python for enterprise customers.
You've sat in client offices, understood how their operations actually run, and built what they needed - not what you assumed they needed.
Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

Technical Depth

Solid understanding of distributed systems and microservices - you can reason about failure modes, not just happy paths.
Hands-on with relational and NoSQL databases you make data-modelling trade-offs deliberately, not by default.
Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerised deployments (Docker, Kubernetes).
Comfortable with CI/CD pipelines and production observability - you know what's happening in your systems after you deploy.

What We Actually Care About

Outcome over output:you measure yourself by cost saved and SLAs hit, not by pull requests merged.
Comfort with ambiguity:client problems don't arrive as clean tickets. You make progress when the spec is we need this working by Thursday.
Communication range:you can walk a CTO through a system design and explain the same decision to a dispatch manager - same day, different language.
Bias to action:you fix things without waiting for permission. You escalate early, not after the fact.
Travel appetite:you're energised by client-site work, not just willing to tolerate it.

Nice to Have

Background in logistics, supply chain, or transportation management.
Familiarity with geospatial data, routing algorithms, or optimisation engines.

What We Offer

Competitive pay with performance-linked upside.
Real international exposure - you'll work inside the supply chains of some of the world's largest companies.
Startup autonomy backed by the IKEA ecosystem.
A team that cares about shipping things that work, not shipping things that demo well.
Learning budgets, comprehensive benefits, and the kind of problems that genuinely make you better at engineering.

Locus is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.