Forward Deployed Strategist

Lazer
Canada
RemoteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

A natural match if you have consulting experience in AI or technology and a track record of translating complex concepts into actionable strategies.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with consulting experience in AI or technology and a history of client-facing project ownership
    — “Consulting-trained with a technical lean; 3+ years in client-facing consulting, strategy, product, or project management roles with a track record of owning projects end to end”
  • Individuals who are technically fluent and can synthesize stakeholder needs into clear project plans
    — “you've worked closely alongside engineering or data teams and understand how software, integrations, and data fit together well enough to ask sharp questions and translate between both sides”
  • Candidates comfortable with ambiguity and who can create structure in uncharted territory
    — “Comfortable in ambiguity; you're energized by first-of-a-kind problems, move quickly without a perfect spec, and create structure where there isn't any”

Things to consider

  • The role demands significant cross-functional collaboration and client immersion, not just remote work
    — “Embed with enterprise customers; act as a forward-deployed strategist on behalf of frontier AI labs and major AI companies, operating as an extension of their team”
  • Prior experience with AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT in a professional setting is a strong differentiator
    — “Experience using Claude, ChatGPT, Glean, or similar tools in a work setting”

How to stand out

  • Highlight your ability to simplify AI for non-technical stakeholders in your resume and interviews
    — “you excel at breaking down complex concepts and can explain AI to an executive, a skeptical end user, and an engineer in the same afternoon”
  • Showcase your experience in translating vague client requests into clear project plans
    — “you find the real problem underneath a vague request, reconcile competing stakeholder needs into a clear point of view”
  • Emphasize your track record of leading AI adoption and turning users into builders
    — “run workshops, office hours, and hands-on sessions that take non-technical teams from 'what do I use this for?' to building their own AI workflows”
  • Demonstrate your ability to synthesize and communicate insights to leadership through written and visual formats
    — “communicate it in writing and slides that leaders act on”
  • Show experience in identifying high-impact use cases and aligning them with business goals
    — “identify the use cases that will move the business, and define what success looks like”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • embed with enterprise customers
  • lead discovery and map the organization
  • communicate between customers and engineers
  • own the plan and see it through
Typical background
consulting-trained with a technical leanhands-on AI power user

Skills & requirements

Required

AILlmsAgentsAI Workflow ToolsTeachingStructured ThinkingTechnical FluencyAmbiguity Management

Preferred

Forward-deployed Or AI Startup ExperienceMBB, Big Four, Or Equivalent Firm Experience

Stack & domain

Client-facing ConsultingStrategyProductProject ManagementAILlmsAgentsAI Workflow ToolsSoftwareIntegrationsDataEngineeringData-driven MarketingTVOnlineMobile AdvertisingTeachingCommunicationStructured ThinkingAdvisingTeamworkAmbiguity HandlingDigital Product StudioTechnology

About the role

Original posting from Lazer via Ashby

Lazer https://www.lazertechnologies.com is a world-class digital product studio composed of 180+ senior engineers and designers with backgrounds from companies like Apple, Google, Coinbase, and more. With our product experience, we have designed, engineered, and grown products from $0 to $200M in revenue.

Clients seek out our help because we have the talent to deeply understand their needs and provide industry, technical, or product insights that are uniquely valuable to their efforts. Our clients range from early-stage startups and venture studios to recognizable retail brands and exciting enterprises. Some of our notable clients include Google, Shopify, Coinbase, Alchemy, Hinge, OVO, Polymarket, and more.

We are a remote-first organization headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with employees worldwide. We believe in providing the best experience possible for all Lazerites by fostering a strong community through regular events, company vacations, competitive compensation, unlimited PTO, and more!

Join Lazer and help us solve problems and build the next generation of products!

WHO YOU ARE:

  • Consulting-trained with a technical lean; 3+ years in client-facing consulting, strategy, product, or project management roles with a track record of owning projects end to end, ideally in a technology, data, or AI practice at an MBB, Big Four, or equivalent firm. Forward-deployed or AI startup experience is a strong plus.
  • Hands-on AI power user; you use LLMs, agents, and AI workflow tools in your own work every day, and you know firsthand where they shine and where they break.
  • Natural teacher; you excel at breaking down complex concepts and can explain AI to an executive, a skeptical end user, and an engineer in the same afternoon. You know rolling out a tool is the easy part, and getting people to change how they work is the real job.
  • Structured thinker; you find the real problem underneath a vague request, reconcile competing stakeholder needs into a clear point of view, and communicate it in writing and slides that leaders act on.
  • Trusted advisor; you build rapport quickly at every level, clients want you in the room, and you naturally notice where their business is headed and where more impact is possible. Prior account expansion experience is helpful but not required.
  • Technically fluent; you've worked closely alongside engineering or data teams and understand how software, integrations, and data fit together well enough to ask sharp questions and translate between both sides. No coding required.
  • Comfortable in ambiguity; you're energized by first-of-a-kind problems, move quickly without a perfect spec, and create structure where there isn't any.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

  • Embed with enterprise customers; act as a forward-deployed strategist on behalf of frontier AI labs and major AI companies, operating as an extension of their team and owning the path from signed contract to measurable value.
  • Be the product manager for the customer's AI problem; lead discovery, map the organization, identify the use cases that will move the business, and define what success looks like.
  • Communicate between customers and engineers; dissect feature requests, separate what the client is asking for from what they actually need, and hand engineers clear, prioritized requirements with the business context behind them.
  • Own the plan and see it through; synthesize the needs of multiple stakeholders into a clear project plan, manage timelines, dependencies, and risks to ensure successful delivery, and keep leadership aligned with executive summaries, decks, and roadmaps that drive decisions.
  • Turn users into builders; run workshops, office hours, and hands-on sessions that take non-technical teams from "what do I use this for?" to building their own AI workflows, and coach the mental game behind it: what to delegate, how to break work into steps an agent can handle, and when to trust the output.
  • Make adoption stick; build curricula, guides, and playbooks for different teams and roles, track usage and outcomes, and surface blockers early so deployments move from experimentation to production.
  • Grow the account and close the loop; turn early wins into broader rollouts and new scope, and bring sharp field insight back to our partners' product teams and Lazer's own deployment playbook.

NICE TO HAVE:

  • Ability to read code or build simple prototypes, automations, or integrations.
  • Prior experience at an AI company, or deploying enterprise AI products (assistants, agent builders, enterprise search, copilots) at scale.
  • Experience using Claude, ChatGPT, Glean, or similar tools in a work setting
  • Product management experience at a software company.
  • Background in enablement, instructional design, or change management for large, mixed-skill audiences.
  • Familiarity with advanced AI concepts like RAG, MCPs, and agent orchestration

AI in our hiring process

We use AI to help us review and shortlist applications based on job-related criteria. A human hiring manager always makes the call on who moves forward. As a company that builds with AI every day, we're all for candidates using it too — just be upfront about how it helped.

Why Work With Us

  • 🚀 Accelerate Your Growth: Work across multiple industries and cutting-edge projects with a team that ships fast.
  • 💥 Maximum Impact: Shape the future of the tech industry by helping ambitious projects reach their potential.
  • 🏅 True Ownership: Everyone ships code and has real autonomy with minimal meetings.
  • 💡 Continuous Learning: Be part of a team of senior engineers and designers who love learning and knowledge sharing.

WHY THIS MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU

  • 🤖 You Resist Modern Tools: We leverage AI and cutting-edge technology to build rapidly and focus our energy on solving the most complex, high-impact challenges for our clients.
  • 🏗️ You Crave High Structure: We thrive in an autonomous, fast-moving environment, which means you need to be comfortable with some ambiguity.
  • 😴 You Prefer Conventional Careers: Our consulting approach involves varied projects and direct client interaction — it's not for everyone.
  • 1️⃣ You Like Staying in One Lane: Our projects require adapting to different tech stacks and modern tooling quickly.

BENEFITS & PERKS

  • 🌐 Work From Anywhere: Choose your workspace — all you need is strong wifi and a passion for building!
  • 🧘‍♂️ Work / Life Balance: We believe in our team’s ability to have it all; a great career, and time to unplug and live…you know...life.
  • 🩺 Employee Care: We provide full benefits (healthcare, dental, vision) for our employees (401k for our US employees)
  • 🏖️ Unlimited PTO: Everyone needs a break. Take at least 15 days off a year, and more if you need—just be cool about it and keep the team in mind.
  • 🎉 Regular Team Retreat: Join us for a week of team bonding at amazing destinations. Recent trips include the Dominican Republic, Cancun, and Hawaii — plus ones welcome.

Source: Lazer careers (Ashby)

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