Contract Forward Deployed Engineer

Location: UK/Portugal/Europe Remote

Department: Engineering

Employment Type: Contract (B2B)

Contract Length: 6 months

About YLD:

Our goal is to help our clients keep moving forward. We work with them to build the skills and capabilities they need to stay ahead of the competition, and we know our success only happens when they succeed. We’re a team of curious, talented people, and we’re committed to making YLD a place where great people want to work, grow, and stay. We’re a remote-first consultancy specialising in software engineering, product design, and data. Our teams are based across London, Lisbon, and Porto, and we create digital solutions that continue to deliver value long after our work is done.

About the role:

As a Forward Deployment Engineer at YLD, you'll be part of a client team building innovative products. We're looking for someone curious, passionate, driven, and enthusiastic. You should be skilled in problem-solving and experienced in designing scalable, resilient, and fault-tolerant architectures. You're also an effective communicator and a strong team player. Together with your team, you'll thrive in a fast-paced engineering environment, delivering outstanding results and exciting projects.

Your day-to-day responsibilities can look like this:

• Design, build, and maintain robust backend and infrastructure systems using Golang and Java with contributions across the broader engineering stack
• Work closely with client teams in collaborative working sessions, explaining technical decisions and translating complex engineering concepts clearly
• Deploy and manage cloud infrastructure across AWS and GCP using Kubernetes (EKS/GKE), Terraform, and Flux
• Actively leverage AI-powered tools and workflows to accelerate development, improve code quality, and drive engineering best practices

Preferred skills:

• Strong backend and infrastructure engineering background, with hands-on Golang and Java experience;
• Experience developing or integrating decentralised systems, data infrastructure, or distributed technologies;
• Solid command of cloud infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Kubernetes (EKS/GKE), Terraform, and Flux;
• Actively and meaningfully using AI tools in day-to-day coding practice (not just awareness, but advanced, habitual use);
• Familiarity with TigerBeetle, YugabyteDB, or Red Panda;
• Experience in fintech, core banking, or regulated financial services environments;
• Open to occasional travel to London.

You should apply if you are:

• Proactive: You take ownership and move things forward without waiting to be asked;
• A strong communicator: you express technical ideas clearly, in writing and in client-facing conversations, with full professional fluency in English;
• Confident presenting: you bring a polished, engaged attitude to working sessions and stakeholder interactions;
• Focused on quality: you care about doing things properly and hold yourself to a high standard;
• Pragmatic: you make sensible trade-offs and deliver results in ambiguous, fast-moving environments;
• A creative problem solver: you approach hard engineering challenges with curiosity and ingenuity;
• Collaborative: you thrive on working within cross-functional, distributed teams and value others' input.

What you’ll get in return:

• The chance to work with a forward-thinking, ethical, and fun group of people and to develop and grow your skills in a fast-moving business

Our typical recruitment process:

• 1st Interview with someone from the Talent team (30/45 mins)
• Technical Interview with our Senior Developers (1h30)
• Final chat with our Client Partner (30/45 mins)

Get a glimpse of what it's like working at YLD! 🤳

Check out our LinkedIn page

We’re an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity in all its forms. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, age, marital status, or disability. We also offer a remote-first working environment, with flexible working and work–life balance as standard for all employees.