NetApp

Forward Deployed Engineer, Agentic Product Management

NetApp$170K — $220K *
Consumer Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 8+ years in production software delivery, with a degree in Computer Science or related field.
  • Proficiency in current AI technologies, including large language models and tool integration.
  • Strong skills in problem discovery and stakeholder management, particularly with security protocols.
  • Ability to adapt in ambiguous situations and manage multiple engagements effectively.
  • Excellent communication skills for conveying complex ideas to non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

  • Embed in various Product Group functions to build relationships and understand workflows.
  • Scope and architect technical solutions based on identified problems.
  • Develop and deploy production-level AI agents within live workflows.
  • Establish measurable quality criteria for AI systems before deployment.
  • Ensure reliability of the system under real-world production conditions.
  • Deliver solutions akin to consulting projects, with clear expectations and handoff plans.
  • Rotate across teams to tackle diverse challenges while capturing learnings for future engagements.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, life, and retirement insurance options.
  • Generous paid time off and various leave options.
  • Performance-based incentives and employee stock purchase plans.
  • Restricted stock units (RSUs) available.
  • Benefits tailored to regional laws and policies.
Full Job Description
Job Summary

This role engineers and ships production AI agents into the way a function already works. You embed inside functions across NetApp's product organization, working inside their environment, systems, and tools. You determine what to build and how, the technical approach and the architecture, by working the problem alongside them rather than from a written specification. You build and ship the system end to end and own that it works and holds up in production - reliable and safe on the function's real workflows - before rotating to the next function. The role sits within the Agentic Product Management team under the VP, Analytics Growth and AI Native Engineering.

The role combines three skillsets that usually live in three different people: the engineer who architects, writes, and ships the production system; the product-minded builder who can scope the right solution inside an unfamiliar function; and the consultant who can deliver inside a team that is not their own. The engineer is the spine - the person who writes the production code also embeds and scopes inside a function they have never worked in. Building AI agents is the baseline; what you deliver is a working system the host function runs and trusts in production.

A few principles shape how the team approaches its work:
  • We start from outcomes, not from tasks. The first question on any engagement is what the process is for and what good looks like, not how to automate the current steps.
  • We deliver working solutions, not recommendations. Every engagement ends with a prototype that real users can run.
  • We design with audit trails. Every workflow is inspectable: which agent did what, against what input, with what reasoning.
  • We expand trust deliberately. Agents start with bounded authority, and authority grows as evidence accumulates.


Key Responsibilities

  • Embed inside a host function. Drop into a Product Group function such as product operations, program management, UX design, or product management - one that is not your own - for the duration of the engagement, and build the relationship with its leader and the operators who do the work today.
  • Scope the technical solution. Working from the problem the host team surfaces, decide what to build and how - the approach, the architecture, where an agent removes real toil, and where human judgment, relationships, or accountability must stay in the loop.
  • Build and ship the agent end to end. Put a working system into the host team's live workflow using their real systems and data - prompts, tools, retrieval, sub-agents, and the integration code the deployment requires. The deliverable is production code running in the host team's live workflow.
  • Make quality measurable. Build for non-deterministic systems: evaluations, golden sets, and regression checks that make the agent's quality defensible before it touches real work. You can show the system is correct from the evidence.
  • Own that it works in production. Success is a system the host team runs and trusts on live work. You are accountable for the agent being correct and dependable under production conditions, and you run the engagement to that bar.
  • Deliver like a consulting engagement. Scope the work, set expectations with host-team leadership, deliver on a timeline, and hand off with enablement so the team can operate the system after you leave.
  • Rotate across teams and domains. Each engagement is time-boxed. You move across multiple host teams over the year, applying the same discipline to a new problem each time.
  • Partner with security, IT, and data owners. In each host environment, work with the relevant owners to land agents responsibly under NetApp standards for access, privacy, and acceptable use, and to get the workflow approved.
  • Contribute patterns back. Capture reusable components from each engagement - agent designs, prompt patterns, evaluation harnesses, integration approaches - and add them to the team's shared infrastructure so later deployments move faster. Feed what you learn in the field back to the platform and roadmap, including missing capabilities and what should become paved-road infrastructure.


Education and Experience

  • Typically requires 8+ years shipping production software, with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Hands-on fluency with current AI tooling, including LLMs, prompt and context engineering, tool and function calling, retrieval, agent frameworks, evaluation for non-deterministic systems, and protocols such as Model Context Protocol. Familiarity with Cursor and Claude Code is preferred, and experience with LangGraph and/or LangSmith is highly preferred; experience with other orchestration platforms and agent frameworks is welcome
  • Strong problem discovery, structured thinking, and stakeholder management skills, including navigating security, IT, and data-owner review without losing the intent of the original design.
  • Comfort operating in high ambiguity, including when the problem as described does not match the data and systems on the ground, and a preference for moving between engagements over owning one long-lived codebase. Breadth applied fast matters more here than deep specialization in one stack.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain technical limits to non-technical stakeholders, disagree productively, and adjust as evidence evolves.

Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is 170,000 - 220,000 USD. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU's), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.

About NetApp

NetApp is a global cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organizations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloud-like experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services and applications to the right people?anytime, anywhere. Learn more at www.netapp.com.
Learn more about NetApp
Size
12,000 employees
Market Cap
$12.7 billion
Industry
Net Income
$592 million
Founded
1992
5 Year Trend
+2.8%
Revenue
$5.5 billion
NASDAQ

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