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 — Closure role?

The Forward Deployed Engineer — Closure 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 — Closure

$115K - $175K San Francisco, CA, US Mid Posted June 01, 2026

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Role Description

Forward Deployed Engineer — Closure ---------------------------------------

Location: New York City, NY or San Francisco, CA (Onsite)

Compensation: $115,000 – $175,000 base + equity

Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Role

Closure is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to own customer deployments end to end — working directly with police departments, prosecutors, investigators, and analysts to configure implementations, build integrations, and translate complex evidence workflows into production-ready systems. This is a mission-driven role supporting public safety and government work.

What You'll Own

Own deployments from pilot through renewal
Work directly with police departments, prosecutors, investigators, and analysts
Configure product implementations and customer-specific workflows
Write scripts, integrations, and tooling to support deployments
Ingest and normalize complex evidence datasets
Translate customer feedback into product improvements
Partner closely with engineering and product teams
Travel onsite with customers as needed

Requirements

Strong engineering skills with Python and/or TypeScript
Experience building APIs, integrations, data pipelines, and production tools
Comfortable working directly with customers
Owner mentality with strong bias toward action
Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments
Mission alignment with public safety and government work
Able to pass FBI background check and CJIS clearance
Willing to travel as needed

Nice to Have

Prior Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Implementation Engineer, Technical Consultant, or similar experience
Experience with law enforcement, defense, intelligence, investigations, digital forensics, prosecution, or public safety
Experience handling messy real-world datasets
Familiarity with evidence sources such as Cellebrite, GrayKey, ALPR, body camera footage, call records, jail calls, PDFs, and social media data
Strong customer-facing communication skills
Experience at startups serving government or public sector customers

Target Backgrounds

Strong signals include Palantir FDE experience, Anduril, Magnet Forensics, defense contractors, public safety technology companies, technical implementation engineers, solutions architects with coding ability, and military intelligence or digital forensics backgrounds.

This Role Is NOT For

Pure sales engineers who only demo products
Career consultants without shipped outcomes
Candidates who view public safety customers negatively
Engineers without customer-facing experience

Logistics

Role is onsite in either New York City or San Francisco
Must be able to pass FBI background check and CJIS clearance
Travel required as needed for customer onsite visits

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by David Joseph & Co., the recruiting partner managing this search on behalf of Closure.

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.