Full-time · Forward Deployed Engineer — AI & Optimization for Logistics (m/w/d)
Full-time · permanent · Munich / Hybrid
Help build the decision layer for modern road freight. Sit close to logistics operators, turn messy planning workflows into working software, and ship optimization-backed decision support that real dispatchers use.
ARCIS is an early-stage AI startup based in Munich, developed within the TUM / UnternehmerTUM ecosystem and supported through the German EXIST start-up programme. We are building an AI-supported decision layer for logistics teams. Freight operations still rely on fragmented systems, messy data, manual planning, and dispatcher experience. ARCIS helps teams make better decisions across loads, vehicles, routes, capacity, and operational constraints. We are looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer who can work close to customers, understand messy operational workflows, and turn real logistics problems into working software. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of engineering, product, optimization, and customer deployment.
Project scope
- Work directly with logistics operators to understand real planning workflows
- Translate operational rules and edge cases into product logic
- Build prototypes, integrations, dashboards, and decision-support features
- Work on optimization-related problems such as routing, assignment, scheduling, and capacity planning
- Connect messy data sources such as Excel, CSV, APIs, and operational systems
- Test solutions with users and improve them quickly based on feedback
- Help turn pilot projects into repeatable product modules
- Shape the product and technical architecture from an early stage
Ideal profile
You combine strong software engineering fundamentals with experience around optimization problems — routing, scheduling, assignment, graph problems, heuristics, or constraint-solving — and you are comfortable in messy real-world data with unclear requirements. You can build across the stack: data, backend, frontend, integrations, and internal tools. You care whether users actually understand and use what you build. Strong ownership, clear communication, comfort with ambiguity, and professional English are essential. You have the right to work in Germany / EU or are eligible to obtain the required work authorization.
- Strong software engineering fundamentals
- Optimization · routing · scheduling · assignment · graph · heuristics · constraint-solving
- Comfort building across the stack: data, backend, frontend, integrations, internal tools
- Working with messy real-world data and unclear requirements
- Product mindset and direct user-feedback loops
- Nice to have: OR-Tools, Gurobi, CPLEX, Pyomo, NetworkX, OSRM, or similar
- Nice to have: TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Python, SQL, Docker, APIs, mapping tools
- Nice to have: logistics, supply chain, mobility, fleet, or industrial software background
- Nice to have: previous startup, consulting, product engineering, or customer-facing technical experience
- Nice to have: German language skills
What you get
- A seat next to the real problem: operators, messy data, operational constraints, and daily planning decisions.
- Build, test, deploy, learn, and iterate fast — not a ticket-based engineering role.
- Shape the product and technical architecture from an early stage.
- Munich-based startup with TUM / UnternehmerTUM / EXIST support.
Key facts
- Full-time, permanent · Munich / Hybrid.
- Start: as soon as possible or upon agreement.
- Equal-opportunity employer. Employment subject to mutual agreement, role fit, and work authorization.
Application
Please send:
- CV
- GitHub or portfolio if available
- Short note about a technical problem you solved close to users, operations, optimization, or messy data
Perfect academic optimization is not enough — the system has to work with messy data, changing constraints, and real users.