What does a Forward Deployed Engineer do at deCircle?

Forward Deployed Engineers at deCircle 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 Chakra Labs - Member of Technical Staff, Forward Deployed role?

The Chakra Labs - Member of Technical Staff, Forward Deployed role at deCircle 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 deCircle remote?

Remote availability varies by deCircle 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.

deCircle

Chakra Labs - Member of Technical Staff, Forward Deployed

$200K - $280K New York, NY, US Mid Posted October 11, 2026

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Role Description

Source: Paraform - https://www.paraform.com/share/chakra-labs/cmtgroz4r001z0cl2gzrpgs73

Compensation: $200,000-$280,000 base + competitive equity. 100% medical/vision/dental, $30/day meal stipend, unlimited PTO, up to $10K relocation.

Location: On-site, Flatiron, Manhattan, New York. Visa: open to transfers and new sponsorships (H1B, TN).

About this role

Forward Deployed Engineer with 2-5 years of experience joining Chakra Labs as a fast-moving generalist who bridges the gap between the platform and what frontier AI lab customers need: shaping data, spinning up dashboards, handcrafting RL tasks and building quick features, on tight timelines at the cutting edge of post-training and agent research.

What will you be doing?

Shape data created by human experts to fit the specific requirements of frontier AI lab customers
Build quick plugins, features, or temporary improvements to existing data-collection systems
Handcraft reinforcement learning task samples tailored to customer needs
Spin up customer-facing interfaces like dashboards and portals on short timelines
Identify when one-off custom builds should be generalized into the core platform

Tech stack

TypeScript, Python, Go, Vercel, Supabase, AWS, EKS

About Chakra Labs

In collaboration with leading research teams, Chakra Labs builds deterministic, pixel-perfect reinforcement learning environments and trajectory datasets to push capability boundaries. 15 employees, founded 2025, $25M total funding, New York City.

2-5 years of full-stack software engineering in fast-paced environments
Fast-moving generalist comfortable with ad hoc customer requests on tight timelines
TypeScript, Python, Go; Vercel, Supabase, AWS/EKS
On-site in Flatiron, Manhattan, NYC

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.