Customer Engineer

At Just Appraised, we're replacing outdated, manual local government workflows with modern software used by hundreds of government agencies across the United States. Our cutting-edge, AI-powered software replaces manual data entry to eliminate delays, backlogs, and errors. This work directly impacts how communities fund schools, infrastructure, and public services.

About the Role

The Customer Engineer is the most technical seat in our go-to-market organization. You own each customer installation end to end: partnering with Sales to gather requirements, architecting the right solution, scoping a precise Statement of Work, and then staying accountable through implementation, User Acceptance Testing, and go-live. This is a hands-on engineering role with direct customer ownership, not a program management or handoff-and-advise position. You will write Python and SQL that customers depend on, build ETL pipelines against real county data, and navigate integration environments where paths are rarely clean.

You are also the technical first-boots-on-the-ground for each engagement. You run the initial customer kickoff yourself and own infrastructure, network, and data flow setup — securing system access, configuring SSO and firewall coordination, and validating third-party vendor connectivity — before Implementation Engineering ever joins the project. This role is remote-based with regular on-site customer travel (10 to 15 business days per quarter, approximately 15 to 20% annually). If on-site deployment work at county offices isn't energizing to you, this won't be the right fit.

We evaluate on demonstrated technical signal, not years of experience.

Own delivery from scoping through go-live. Serve as the accountable owner for each customer installation from the Sales process through launch. You scope it, you see it live. Partner closely with Implementation Engineering, but the customer outcome is yours — including managing scope creep, new requests, and risks that emerge mid-implementation.

Run kickoff and stand up the technical foundation. Conduct the initial project kickoff and own infrastructure, network, and data flow setup before the implementation phase begins. This includes securing system access, configuring authentication and network paths (SSO, SAML, OAuth, VPN, firewall rules), coordinating credentials with third-party vendors, and ensuring the project starts on solid technical ground.

Customer engagement and technical discovery. Engage with prospective customers during the Sales process to deeply understand their operational needs, technical environment, and integration landscape — including the third-party software vendors and systems they depend on. Ask the discovery questions that prevent surprises after contract signature.

Architect custom solutions. Design tailored solutions using the Just Appraised product suite to streamline customer workflows. Assess integration feasibility hands-on: query and profile customer data, build and validate ETL pipelines, evaluate data access constraints, and validate assumptions against the customer's actual systems rather than their descriptions of them.

Scoping and documentation. Define expected product functionality and scope Statements of Work with detailed software and configuration specifications. Translate ambiguous customer requests into tightly scoped technical requirements that engineering can build against without rework. Document integration dependencies, infrastructure requirements, and vendor coordination before implementation begins.

Manage expectations and risk. Set clear expectations for the time, effort, and cost implications of custom features. Identify and communicate technical risks early, particularly when a customer's existing systems or vendor relationships may impact the integration path.

Cross-functional launch coordination. Collaborate with Sales, Implementation Engineering, and Customer Success to coordinate successful launches, including daily stand-ups, kickoff meetings, training, and UAT. Serve as the point of coordination with third-party software vendors — understanding when vendor cooperation is required and finding viable paths forward when constraints exist.

Implementation depth as backup. When Implementation Engineering is capacity-constrained, run the implementation independently. This role requires enough delivery depth to complete an engagement end-to-end without dependency on the IE team, not just to hand off to them.

Product expertise and enhancement. Maintain expert-level knowledge of key product functionality. Feed implementation insights back into the product as championed, concrete enhancement proposals.

What We're Looking For (Required)

Hands-on technical proficiency in Python and SQL. You can write and read both. You use them daily to profile customer datasets, build ETL pipelines, validate data mappings, scope integration work, and sanity-check integration assumptions. You ship code that customers depend on, not just configuration or scripts.

ETL pipeline building and data transformation fluency. Working experience building and shipping ETL pipelines in production — not just familiarity with how data moves. Python-based ETL is the primary technical bar. Deep working knowledge of how data actually moves between systems: data transformation and mapping, RESTful APIs, SFTP-based exchanges, file-based transfers, and database connectivity — including legacy and on-premise environments where documentation is thin and creative problem-solving is required. Hands-on ETL pipeline experience is one of the strongest signals for this role.

Network, authentication, and third-party integration navigation. Practical experience with SSO (SAML, OAuth, OIDC), VPN configuration, firewall coordination, credential management across enterprise environments, and third-party vendor integration paths. This role regularly requires you to negotiate access with vendors whose cooperation is inconsistent and whose systems weren't designed for the integrations you need.

Delivery ownership. A demonstrated track record of owning technical projects past the planning phase, through build, testing, and launch, with an external customer on the other end. Scoping-only, pre-sales-only, or handoff-and-advise backgrounds are not a fit for this role.

AI-fluent working style built on real fundamentals. You use AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or similar) as a daily part of how you work — for research, drafting, data analysis, and deconstructing workflows — and can point to concrete workflows you've rebuilt with them. We are an AI company; our team works this way natively. Critically, AI accelerates your fundamentals rather than substituting for them. You understand the underlying logic of the pipelines, queries, and scripts you ship, and can reason about them without a model in the loop.

Technical translation and communication. Exceptional verbal and written communication with a proven ability to translate between technical and non-technical audiences. You should be comfortable presenting integration architecture to a county IT team and explaining project timelines to an elected official in the same meeting.

Customer empathy and partnership. Demonstrated ability to build trust with stakeholders quickly, with a user-centered mindset and the ability to relay customer goals and constraints accurately to the internal team.

Technical scoping and judgment. Proven ability to scope technical work with enough precision that engineering can build against it, knowing what questions to ask during discovery so an SOW doesn't leave critical integration details unresolved.

Autonomy and work ethic. We have no dedicated PM, QA, or UX functions; everyone here owns outcomes end to end. You should be able to learn continuously, work independently, make decisions with minimal supervision, and manage shifting priorities in a high-growth environment.

Ability and willingness to travel. This role requires on-site customer deployment travel of 10 to 15 business days per quarter (approximately 15 to 20% annually). On-site kickoffs and deployments at county offices are core to the job, not occasional.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience delivering technology solutions to local government, property tax administration, or public sector customers
• Familiarity with CAMA systems, large ERP platforms, or other domain-specific government software
• Experience navigating third-party vendor ecosystems, including coordinating with external software providers on integration requirements, API access, or data exchange agreements
• A software engineering background (current or prior) with production experience shipping application code

Not a Fit for This Role

To save everyone time: if your primary current technical work is platform configuration (low-code platforms, integration tools without underlying code), scripting-only work (PowerShell or bash without application development), or coordinating engineers rather than building alongside them (Technical Program Manager, Technical Product Manager, or similar roles), this role is likely not the right fit — even if the domain and titles look adjacent.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• Company sponsored pre-tax retirement savings program (401k)
• A flexible work environment that supports working from home when not traveling for on-site deployments
• Flexible PTO
• Parental Leave
• Home office stipend