Forward Deployed Engineer – New Initiative (Portugal-based Remote/Hybrid)

SWORD Health Porto Full-time

Sword Health is on a mission to free two billion people from pain. 
With 67% of members achieving a pain-free life and a 70% reduction in surgery intent, at Sword, we are using AI Care to change lives, and save millions for our 25,000+ enterprise clients across three continents. Today, we hold the majority of industry patents, win 70% of competitive evaluations, and have raised more than $300 million from top venture firms like Founders Fund, Sapphire Ventures, General Catalyst, and Khosla Ventures.
Recognized as a Forbes Best Startup Employer in 2025, this award highlights our focus on being a destination for the best and brightest  talent. Not only have we experienced unprecedented growth since our market debut in 2020,  but we’ve also created a remarkable mission and value-driven environment that is loved by our growing team. With a recent valuation of $3 billion, we are in a phase of hyper growth and expansion, and we’re looking for individuals with passion, commitment, and energy to help us scale our global impact. 
Joining Sword means committing to a set of core values, chief amongst them to “do it for the patients” every day, and to always “deliver more than expected” on behalf of our members and clients.
This is an opportunity for you to make a significant difference on a massive scale as you work alongside 900+ (and growing!) talented colleagues, spanning three continents. Your charge? To help us build a pain-free world, powered by AI, enhanced by people — accessible to all.
The new initiative:
This new initiative is focused on  expanding our AI-driven tools beyond pain management to tackle bigger healthcare challenges. This initiative focuses on driving efficiency, streamlining operations, and improving outcomes in areas critical to society’s well-being.
As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you’ll be on the front lines with customers, figuring out their toughest challenges and making our technology fit their needs. That means designing, customizing, and implementing solutions on the fly—sometimes in ways we haven’t even thought of yet.
We take a white-glove approach because our customers are busy saving lives. That means no off-the-shelf fixes. You’ll be hands-on, ensuring our AI integrates seamlessly and delivers real impact. If you thrive in fast-paced, customer-facing roles where every problem is a puzzle to solve, this is for you.

What you’ll be doing:

  • Work directly with customers to understand their biggest challenges and design AI-driven solutions that fit seamlessly into their workflows;
  • Implement and integrate technology on-site and remotely, ensuring smooth deployment and real impact from day one;
  • Solve complex problems in real time – adapting, customizing, and sometimes building entirely new components to meet customer needs;
  • Manage end-to-end implementation projects, planning backward from launch milestones to ensure nothing falls through the cracks;
  • Stay engaged post-go-live, working closely with customers to refine solutions, improve adoption, and identify new ways to maximize value;
  • Bridge the gap between customers and product teams, translating challenges into insights that help shape future product development;
  • Collaborate across technical and non-technical teams, making sure every solution you implement informs long-term improvements and can be scaled effectively.

What you need to have:

  • 5+ years of experience in software engineering with a focus on backend development (Python) and AI-powered systems;
  • A product mindset – you don’t just write code; you think about how solutions fit into the bigger picture and how they can be scaled for future use;
  • A “build fast, improve later” mentality – you know when to ship something scrappy to deliver immediate value, then refine it later;
  • Comfort working directly with customers – you can take vague, high-level problems and turn them into clear, actionable technical solutions;
  • Collaboration skills – you work well across technical and non-technical teams, making sure what you build today can be refined and scaled tomorrow;
  • Clear and concise communication – you can explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and ensure alignment across teams;
  • Willingness to travel (~20%) to work hands-on with customers and ensure smooth implementations.

What we would love to see:

  • Experience in healthcare or health-tech;
  • Familiarity with integrating AI/ML models into production;
  • Strong Python skills, with experience using frameworks like FastAPI, Django, or Flask in production;
  • Knowledge of event-driven architectures and messaging systems—GCP Pub/Sub, Kafka, or RabbitMQ;
  • Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing;
  • Cloud experience (GCP, AWS, Azure) – especially with containerized architectures like Docker and Kubernetes;
  • A passion for high-impact, meaningful work.

To ensure you feel good solving a big Human problem, we offer:

  • A stimulating, fast-paced environment with lots of room for creativity and ownership;
  • Career development and growth, with a competitive salary;
  • The opportunity to work with a talented team on cutting-edge AI/ML applications that have the potential to transform the future of healthcare;
  • A flexible environment where you can control your hours (remotely) with unlimited vacation;
  • Access to our health and well-being program (digital therapist sessions);
  • Remote or Hybrid work policy.