What does a Forward Deployed Engineer do at David Joseph & Company?

Forward Deployed Engineers at David Joseph & Company are embedded directly with enterprise customers to implement and customize the platform, build integrations, and solve technical problems in real-world client environments. They combine software engineering skills with direct customer interaction, writing production code while also serving as the primary technical point of contact.

What skills are required for this Forward Deployed Engineer role?

The Forward Deployed Engineer role at David Joseph & Company typically requires strong software engineering skills (Python, TypeScript, SQL), experience with APIs and system integration, comfort with cloud platforms, and the ability to communicate complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders. Most FDE roles require 3-7 years of engineering experience.

Is this Forward Deployed Engineer position at David Joseph & Company remote?

Remote availability varies by David Joseph & Company FDE role. Some positions are fully remote, others require travel to customer sites, and some are hybrid. Check the full job description above for the specific location requirements for this posting.

David Joseph & Company

Forward Deployed Engineer

$180K - $220K San Francisco, CA, US Mid Posted September 21, 2026

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Role Description

San Francisco, CA · On-site · Full-time

Compensation: $180K–$220K + equity

About the Company

Our client is a Series A company running a fully managed "digital workforce" — custom teams of AI agents that take over enterprise back-office operations end-to-end, with a current focus on finance workflows. Instead of shipping software, they own the outcomes: agents trained on a customer's processes that act, decide, and report. They've been in production with enterprise customers for over two years and are scaling on the back of strong commercial traction.

~35 people · Industry: AI, enterprise back-office automation

The Role

You'd join a small, high-ownership engineering team to build and deploy custom AI-agent systems for enterprise customers. This is a forward deployed role: you own customer projects end-to-end — scoping, building, integrating with the customer's systems, and taking them all the way to production. The work is roughly 70% hands-on backend engineering and 30% working directly with customers to guide implementation and delivery.

What you'll be doing

Design and build backend AI-agent systems in Python
Integrate agent-based solutions into customer environments
Partner with customers to scope, deploy, and support projects through to production
Grow into running customer projects with minimal engineering support

Tech stack: Python (backend), LLM / AI-agent frameworks, cloud (AWS, GCP, or Azure)

Requirements

4–7 years as a customer-facing software engineer
Strong, production-level Python — this role is roughly 70% hands-on backend coding
Track record shipping AI or LLM-based systems into production in real business settings
Experience leading technical, customer-facing projects end-to-end, from scoping through delivery
Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
Ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field
Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days a week

Nice to Haves

A blend of large-company (Big Tech) and startup experience

Why Join

Own full customer projects end-to-end and ship production AI agent systems, not demos or copilots
Flat, high-ownership team with direct access to senior leadership and no micromanagement
Series A company with real enterprise traction and strong commercial momentum
Competitive base and meaningful early-stage equity, with 100% medical, dental, and vision coverage

Details

Location: San Francisco, CA
Work policy: On-site 5 days/week. $5,000 relocation support for candidates moving from outside San Francisco.
Compensation: $180K–$220K + equity
Visa sponsorship: Open to visa transfers (e.g. OPT, H-1B transfers)
Employment type: Full-time

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.