Forward Deployed Engineer

About Quadric

Quadric is redefining edge AI with the industry's first General Purpose Neural Processing Unit (GPNPU), enabling developers to run both neural network inference and conventional C++ code on a single programmable architecture. Our technology powers intelligent edge devices across automotive, industrial, robotics, and embedded systems.

Founded by technologists from MIT and Carnegie Mellon, Quadric is a well-funded, Series C semiconductor IP company with a growing licensing business. As we scale our field engineering function, we're looking for Forward Deployed Engineers to take our novel Chimera GPNPU architecture from customer evaluation to committed design win.

The Opportunity

You'll own the technical path from customer evaluation to silicon design and win on a genuinely novel architecture, the Quadric Chimera GPNPU, which runs everything from CNNs to LLMs to arbitrary C++ on one core, with no fallback processor. Unlike a FAANG solutions role, you'll work the entire stack: quantization, custom kernels, and compiler and your fingerprints will be on chips that ship in cars, cameras, and network appliances.

At a Series C company, every design win has outsized impact. Our FDEs also build with frontier agentic tooling (Claude Code-based agentic workflows) - you won't just be supporting the product, you'll be inventing how edge-AI field engineering is done.

What You'll Do

Own the Technical Path to Design Win

• Convert 2-3 active customer evaluations into committed design wins by getting customer workloads running at target latency and accuracy on Chimera.
• Port customer workloads onto Chimera - architect, adapt, profile, and write custom kernels when required.

Embed with Customer Engineering Teams

• Work on-site and remotely with customer engineering teams: debug failures, hit benchmark targets, and guide model-architecture tradeoffs.
• Drive evaluations forward end-to-end, from first technical conversation through design win.

Build the Agentic FDE Toolkit

• Codify what you learn into reusable assets - SDK skills, porting playbooks, and agentic content - so each subsequent engagement moves faster than the last.
• Build applications and benchmark collateral that support future customer engagements.

Close the Loop Internally

• Partner with engineering and product teams to relay customer learnings and shape the roadmap.
• Contribute skills and playbooks to Quadric's growing agentic FDE toolset.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 6-12 months, you'll:

• Convert 2-3 active customer evaluations into committed design wins on the Chimera platform.
• Build deep fluency across the Chimera stack - quantization, custom kernels, and compiler tooling - well enough to unblock customers independently.
• Establish reusable SDK skills and porting playbooks that measurably shorten the next engagement's timeline.
• Become a trusted technical partner to customer engineering teams, known for translating ambiguous requirements into shipped results.
• Help define and refine Quadric's agentic (Claude Code-based) FDE workflow - there's no existing playbook yet; you'll help write it.

What We're Looking For

Required

• Strong C++ and Python; has written performance-critical code for a constrained target (DSP, NPU, GPU, or embedded SoC).
• Systems-level performance intuition - memory bandwidth, data movement, cycle-level reasoning - and can read a profile and know where the time went.
• High agency and independent problem-solving; methodical and empirical rather than theoretical.
• Comfortable operating without a playbook and in ambiguity - this role is still being defined.

Preferred

• Prior FAE, Sales Engineering, or FDE title - or startup experience as the de facto owner of an end-to-end implementation.
• Familiarity with agentic dev tooling (Claude Code, MCP) - or strong enthusiasm to adopt it.
• Background at NPU/edge-AI IP and silicon companies (e.g., Qualcomm SNPE/QNN, NVIDIA TensorRT/Jetson field engineering, Ceva, Cadence Tensilica, Synopsys ARC, Arm, Hailo, Ambarella, SiMa.ai, Axelera, EdgeCortix).
• Background at inference-focused startups (e.g., Groq, Untether, Tenstorrent) in field/customer engineering or kernel teams.
• FDE experience - candidates with embedded or ML-systems backgrounds.
• Experience at technical trading arms optimizing kernels or hardware for speed
• Big-firm consulting background, provided the candidate personally did the hands-on technical work rather than managing it.

What We Offer

The range for this role reflects the typical compensation for the position; actual compensation is determined by a review of market rate alongside qualifications, experience, interview performance, and location. In addition to competitive salary and equity, we offer a variety of benefits to support your needs (US-based offerings; benefits for other locations are shared during the hiring process):

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance from day one - premiums covered at 99% for employees
• Company-paid life insurance, plus voluntary supplemental life, STD, and LTD insurance
• Commuter support, including parking or Caltrain reimbursement - our office is within walking distance of the Caltrain station
• FSA + HSA
• Equity in the business
• Paid parental leave
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Flexible PTO and winter holiday shutdown
• Catered lunch each day in our office
• Downtown Burlingame office location, close to shops, cafes, and local amenities
• Collaborative, low-ego culture with significant ownership and impact

About Quadric

Founded in 2016 and based in downtown Burlingame, California, Quadric is building the world's first supercomputer designed for the real-time needs of edge devices. Quadric aims to empower developers in every industry with superpowers to create tomorrow's technology, today. The company was co-founded by technologists from MIT and Carnegie Mellon, who were previously the technical co-founders of the Bitcoin computing company 21.

Quadric is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people from all backgrounds can do their best work. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

If this role resonates with you, we encourage you to apply even if your experience does not perfectly match every qualification. We value potential, curiosity, and a willingness to learn just as much as direct experience.

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