The posting
Forward Deployed Engineer
EF Language Abroad | Location: Zurich | Full-time
About the role
EF Language Abroad sends students to learn languages at campuses around the world, supported by sales teams in more than 50 markets. Our product organization builds what those students and teams rely on: online booking, the student journey from enquiry to arrival, and the companion app students use while abroad.
This is a new kind of role for us. We are hiring a tech lead who builds every day, uses AI to do in days what used to take a team weeks, and shapes what we build with product and design instead of receiving it as a spec. You will lead through what you ship and the standard you set, not through headcount.
You will help define how engineering at EF works in an AI-native way.
What you will do:
Build. Spend most of your time hands-on. Architect and optimize complex agentic workloads, focusing on reasoning loops, tool selection, and reducing latency while maintaining production-grade security and networking.
Redefine our workflow.Transform our ability to ship meaningful projects so we can test quickly, get results and iterate seamlessly.
Bring AI into the product where it makes sense.Spot where LLMs can improve the experience for students and staff, build the first version yourself, and put evaluation in place so we know whether it works.
Work as one team with product and design.Join discovery from day one. Bring a prototype where others would bring an estimate, challenge whether something is worth building, and share ownership of the outcome, not only the delivery.
Lead without managing.Set technical direction for your area, review and unblock other engineers, and spread the workflows that make you fast so the whole team gets faster.
Hold the quality bar.Know when AI-generated output is good enough and when it is not. Own testing, security and privacy for systems handling student data across many jurisdictions.
What you bring:
You have 5 or more years of software engineering or technical delivery experience, with at least one production system you can walk us through. Ideally this is in an AI technology stack, full-stack development, or working with frontier Large Language Models (LLMs).
Concrete evidence of using AI creatively in your work: things you built faster, differently, or that would not have existed otherwise.
Product judgment. You care about why something matters to a user and a business, and you have changed a product decision by bringing evidence.
A record of leading as an individual contributor: setting direction, raising the standard of people around you, and being the person others go to on hard problems.
Breadth across the stack, with depth in building with LLMs. You are comfortable picking up what the problem needs.
Clear, direct communication with non-engineers, including teams in different markets and time zones.
Experience shipping LLM features to users, including evaluation, retrieval over company data, and managing cost and latency.
Background in consumer booking, e-commerce or mobile products at scale.
Experience in a company where product needs differ by market.
Why EF Zurich?
We are a global, mission‑driven company, our goal? Open the world through education and cultural exchange. We are an International team, with an international audience, and have opportunities to work across regions. Other benefits include:
Discounts on EF programs for Staff, and Staff Friends and Family for all EF Programs
Free use of EF Hello: a premium Language Learning App
Tuition Reimbursement for continued Education
Referral Bonus for all referred staff hires (equivalent for 500 USD)
Discounts with our global hotel and travel partners
Full use of our on-site gym
15% off our on-site Kita
Swiss Travel Halb-tax reimbursement
And much more!
How to apply:
Please submit your CV in English. Applications in other languages will not be considered.
This role in 100% and fully in-office.Our onsite policy enhances collaboration, company culture, and faster decision-making. Working together in person fosters creativity, spontaneous idea-sharing, and stronger team connections, which we believe is essential for success.
At EF Language Abroad we are dedicated to our mission of opening the world through education, harnessing the power of language learning to deepen the connection between people across the globe.
Ready to open the world through education? Apply now!
About EF Education First
At EF we believe that the world is better when people try to understand one another. Since 1965, we have helped millions of people see new places, experience new cultures, and learn new things about the world and about themselves. Our culturally immersive education programs—focused on language, travel, cultural exchange, and academics—turn dreams into international opportunities.
When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than 600 schools and offices in 50 countries, all with one shared mission of opening the world through education. Whoever you are, whatever you are passionate about—we welcome you and want you to bring that to work every day. EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, caste, parental status, identity, experience and everything else that makes you unique.
Founded in Sweden in 1965, EF has schools and offices around the world, including hubs in Boston, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Stockholm, Zürich, and more. Learn more athttps://www.ef.com.
