Role Description
Job Title: Sr Forward Deployed Engineer
Location: RemoteJob Type: Independent Contract (Contractor / Non-Employee)
Start Date: ASAPPay Rate: $100-120/hr 1099 / C2CContract Length: 6-8 Months - Renewable
Sr. FDE Sets technical direction for a product pod and reasons across systems rather than a single solution.
- Embeds with the client as both technologist and trusted advisor, partnering with business stakeholders to define and architect solutions.
- Leads design and deployment of agentic workflows that are production-ready, secure, and operational, and retains ultimate accountability for responsible system design.
- A Claude Code super-user and full-stack AWS developer, deeply engaged with the client's business, not solely the technology.
- Typically carries depth or breadth across multiple specialties.
- Tech: deep AWS serverless architecture (Bedrock, Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, Cognito, DynamoDB, S3), Terraform IaC, full-stack React / TypeScript / Node.js and Python, AI-native SDLC and harness engineering, Playwright.
- Professional English fluency, written and verbal.
- AI-enabled and hands-on with Claude Code (or comparable agentic tooling).
- Timezone overlap of at least 5 hours with PST working hours (8am–6pm PST).
- Hands-on AWS delivery is required for the engineering roles.
About Forward Deployed Engineering
Forward Deployed Engineers are embedded directly with customers to build custom solutions, integrate products into existing infrastructure, and bridge the gap between product engineering and customer success. The role combines deep technical skills with the ability to operate in client environments and translate business requirements into working software.
Originally pioneered by Palantir, the FDE model has spread across AI, enterprise SaaS, and cloud infrastructure companies. FDEs write production code, architect integrations, train customer teams, and feed product insights back to the core engineering organization. At companies like OpenAI, Salesforce, and Databricks, FDE teams are treated as elite engineering units that can ship custom solutions in days rather than quarters.
Typical FDE stack: Python, TypeScript, SQL, REST/GraphQL APIs, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure), and increasingly LLM APIs and AI orchestration frameworks. Strong communication and the ability to context-switch between technical and business conversations are as important as coding ability.
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