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- Tasks: Bridge AI control systems with real greenhouse operations and enhance customer value.
- Company: Join a pioneering AI company transforming agriculture with cutting-edge technology.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, and the chance to shape the future of food production.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with opportunities for leadership and career growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on global food security while working with innovative AI solutions.
- Qualifications: Strong communication skills and a background in AI, software engineering, or related fields.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 125000 £ per year.
Optimal is building AI agents to control the world’s most critical infrastructure - from factories, to datacenters, and starting with high-tech greenhouses. We are backed by the Director of AI Research at Google DeepMind, a Board Member at Meta, as well as early VCs in SpaceX, Anduril, and Palantir. We have already built the world’s most advanced AI control for high-tech greenhouses and have proven breakthrough performance in customer greenhouses. We are actively scaling to more greenhouses and have signed integration partnerships allowing us to access 75% of the world’s greenhouses.
High-tech greenhouses are key to our agricultural future - for improving human nutrition and securing our food system against climate change and geopolitical instability. But the shortage of skilled operators causes existing greenhouses to underperform and prevents new greenhouses being built. Our AI increases the profits of individual greenhouses by >$1M/year, increases yields, reduces energy and water usage, and unlocks global greenhouse expansion. There are 8,000 high-tech greenhouses in the world today giving Optimal an opportunity to create >8B/year of productivity gains. And by overcoming the shortage of skilled operators, we enable the rapid deployment of new greenhouses outside cities across the world.
We are hiring a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to own the bridge between our AI control system and real greenhouse operations. We already have live deployments, integration partnerships, and strong early evidence that AI control can create very large value in commercial greenhouses. Now we need to scale from promising deployments to a repeatable system for onboarding, and delivering value to customers. That is where this role comes in. This role is part customer-facing engineer, part applied AI/controls engineer, part product builder.
What you will do:
- Speak with growers to understand their crops, greenhouses, and growing strategies.
- Adapt Optimal’s AI control to execute customer growing strategies automatically.
- Monitor production behaviour and identify where the system needs better tooling, guardrails, or product changes. Help to implement.
- Build internal tools, notebooks, agents, and workflows for onboarding, monitoring, intervention, and reporting.
- Find ways to add value to customers based on your direct customer interactions and observations.
- Work closely with other engineers in the company to deliver product improvements.
- Prototype grower-facing UIs that help customers control, understand and trust the system.
Your first 90 days:
- Visit a commercial high-tech greenhouse.
- Learn how growers think about climate, crop steering, risk, energy, and existing control systems.
- Help onboard a customer and translate their growing strategy into Optimal’s AI control system.
- Monitor production behaviour and identify where the system needs tooling, guardrails, or product changes. Help to implement.
- Build at least one tool or workflow that materially improves customer onboarding, monitoring, intervention, or reporting.
- Report performance to growers and gather feedback.
What we are looking for:
- Clear communication with technical and non-technical users.
- Strong intuition for physical and biological systems.
- Strong foundations in at least one of Machine Learning, Optimisation, Control (Model Predictive Control, Optimal Control, and classical feedback techniques), Reinforcement Learning, Physics Modelling and Numerical Simulation.
- Experience building useful tools quickly using AI agents/workflows, notebooks, code, operational playbooks.
- AI-native coding.
- Software engineering in Python.
- Software engineering processes and tools (containers, version control, deployments etc).
Why join: Optimal is early enough that the first few engineers will shape the product, culture, and deployment model. As the founding FDE, you will help create the function from scratch and own the loop from customer need to production AI system to measurable customer value. If we succeed, this role can grow into leadership of forward deployed engineering, customer engineering, deployment operations, or applied product engineering.
Compensation:
- Salary: £70k – £125k
- Equity: 0.5% – 5.0%
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer (up to £125k + equity) employer: Optimal Agriculture
Contact Detail:
Optimal Agriculture Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Founding Forward Deployed Engineer (up to £125k + equity)
✨Tip Number 1
Get to know the company inside out! Research Optimal's mission, values, and recent projects. This will not only help you in interviews but also show your genuine interest in the role.
✨Tip Number 2
Network like a pro! Connect with current employees on LinkedIn or attend industry events. A friendly chat can sometimes lead to insider tips or even a referral!
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for hands-on discussions. Since this role involves real-world applications of AI in greenhouses, be ready to talk about your experiences and how they relate to the job. Show us your problem-solving skills!
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you're serious about joining the Optimal team!
We think you need these skills to ace Founding Forward Deployed Engineer (up to £125k + equity)
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion: When writing your application, let your enthusiasm for AI and agriculture shine through. We want to see that you’re genuinely excited about the role and how it fits into our mission at Optimal.
Tailor Your Experience: Make sure to highlight relevant experiences that align with the job description. Whether it's your background in machine learning or your hands-on experience with greenhouse operations, we want to see how you can bring value to our team.
Be Clear and Concise: We appreciate clear communication, so keep your application straightforward. Avoid jargon unless necessary, and make sure your points are easy to understand for both technical and non-technical readers.
Apply Through Our Website: Don’t forget to submit your application through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity at Optimal.
How to prepare for a job interview at Optimal Agriculture
✨Know Your AI and Controls
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of AI control systems, especially in relation to agricultural applications. Be ready to discuss how you would adapt AI to meet specific customer needs in high-tech greenhouses.
✨Understand the Grower's Perspective
Familiarise yourself with the challenges growers face, such as climate control and crop management. During the interview, demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical users by sharing insights on how you would bridge that gap.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare examples of past projects where you've built tools or workflows that improved processes. Highlight your experience in monitoring production behaviour and making data-driven decisions to enhance system performance.
✨Be Ready to Prototype
Since this role involves prototyping grower-facing UIs, think about how you would approach this task. Bring ideas to the table during the interview about how you could create user-friendly interfaces that help customers understand and trust the AI system.