Subscribe
David Joseph & Company

Forward Deployed Engineer

$170K - $250K New York, NY, US Mid Posted September 13, 2026

Role Description

New York, NY · On-site (4 days/week) · Full-time

Compensation: $170K–$250K + equity

About the Company

Our client is a Series C healthtech company automating the health insurance claims process for medical providers, replacing manual back-office work with software that helps clean claims get paid. Founded in 2019, they have grown quickly, more than doubling revenue and headcount each year, and are expanding from digital health into the broader enterprise provider market.

Founded 2019 · ~175 people · Industry: Healthcare, Insurtech, B2B, AI

The Role

This is a customer-facing engineering role that sits between the product and the people using it. You will move between writing code in the core product and working directly with customers to turn real-world pain points into shipped features. Expect ambiguity, ownership, and a high bar.

What you'll be doing

  • Design and ship solutions in the core product — fixing bugs, building features, and solving the problems customers care about most.
  • Work directly with customers, from subject-matter experts to executives, and explain technical ideas clearly to technical and non-technical audiences alike.
  • Turn ambiguous problem statements into requirements, specs, and realistic timelines without waiting for fully-defined product requirements.
  • Support integrations and new workflows for large customers, deploying updates in real time based on customer signal.
  • Partner with sales, product, and product engineering to deliver smoothly and feed insights back into the roadmap.

Tech stack: Python, TypeScript, GCP, Go, SQL, AI/ML, REST APIs

Requirements

  • Currently based in New York City and able to work on-site 4 days a week
  • Authorized to work in the US as a citizen or green card holder, or eligible for TN/E3 sponsorship
  • 4+ years building full-stack or backend software
  • Experience at a venture-backed startup or a high-bar, fast-moving technology company
  • A degree in computer science or a closely related technical field
  • Working proficiency in at least one modern language such as Python, TypeScript, or Go
  • Able to explain complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders

Nice to Haves

  • Prior forward-deployed, solutions, or other customer-facing engineering experience
  • A track record of promotion and growing responsibility rather than lateral moves
  • Experience with third-party integrations or AI/ML automation

Why Join

  • Help fix a genuinely broken, high-stakes corner of healthcare at real scale.
  • Join a fast-growing, well-backed company while it is still early enough for your work to shape the product.
  • Own outcomes end to end, from customer conversation to deployed code.

Details

  • Location: New York, NY
  • Work policy: On-site, 4 days/week
  • Compensation: $170K–$250K + equity
  • Visa sponsorship: US work authorization required; limited sponsorship available (TN/E3 only)
  • 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.

Get the FDE Pulse Brief

Weekly market intelligence for Forward Deployed Engineers. Job trends, salary data, and who's hiring. Free.