Role Description
Forward Deployed Engineer
- San Francisco, CA
- Full-Time
- $120,000 – $150,000 / year
Purple Unicorn, on behalf of SalesPatriot, is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer.
Non-negotiable: ALL ROLES ARE ON-SITE IN SAN FRANCISCO. IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED YOU MUST BE LOCAL OR WILLING TO MOVE
* Must be authorized to work in the US*
The Mission
America's industrial base runs on systems built in the 1980s.
Billions of dollars in critical components (F-35 parts, industrial assemblies, electronics, bolts, and hoses) still move through email threads, excel sheets, and disconnected ERPs.
We're replacing that with an AI-native platform that makes aerospace, electronics, industrial, and defense supply-chain operations nearly autonomous. Faster quoting. Faster procurement. Full visibility. Real operational intelligence for the companies our nation depends on.
Quick Facts
- YC W25 company. Top 5% growth in batch
- Raised $10M+ from investors including Paul Graham, SV Angel, Pear VC, and CRV
- Team of 20 co-live in our Warsaw & SF Hacker Houses
- 7 figure ARR transacting ~$50M a week through our system
The Job
- Go. Fly out and plant yourself inside the customer's operation. Weekdays are onsite (Wisconsin, New York, Miami, Los Angeles); weekends we regroup at the SF HQ to debrief and keep building.
- Understand. Map how the company actually operates, from sales and supply chain teams to executives and CEOs. Learn the breakpoints choking their growth and speed.
- Implement. Configure automations within SP Studio tooling so the platform accurately reflects the customer's needs. Build trust and confidence in SalesPatriot.
- Iterate. Take full ownership of the customer's outcome. Keep finding and killing their most pressing problems, leading org-wide scaling, until SalesPatriot is the operating system their business runs on.
What We’re Looking For
- Ready to relocate full-time to San Francisco. This is not a remote role.
- Absolute grinder. Interested in co-living (though not required).
- Comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change.
- Track record of shipping fast.
- Full-stack beyond code: comfortable jumping between frontend, backend, and organizational politics — earning trust with procurement specialists while navigating executive priorities and IT constraints.
- Motivated by taking an unknown problem, sinking your teeth in, and coming up with a plan of attack.
- Proficiency in TypeScript, JavaScript, and at least one frontend library (React, Svelte, Next etc).
- Be ready to show us at least one full-stack project you've shipped (GitHub repo / web app / Loom demo video).
- Knowledge of SQL databases, preferably Postgres.
- Personable: clients trust you, like you, and look forward to your updates. You handle the conversation and the code.
- Low ego, curiosity, and intellectual honesty — focused on outcomes, not "being right."
Salary & Benefits:
- 120-150K
- Medical (Partially paid)
- PTO
- 401K pending
AT SALESPATRIOT, WE’RE REDEFINING HOW MANUFACTURERS, ENGINEERS, AND SUPPLIERS DO BUSINESS. IT'S SCARY, IT’S THRILLING, AND WE FULLY ACKNOWLEDGE WE’RE CRAZY ENOUGH TO TAKE IT ON.DON’T SEE YOUR ROLE? —APPLY ANYWAY. IF YOU’RE EXCEPTIONAL, WE’LL FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE ROOM. JUST REACH OUT AND SHOW US WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE. SIMPLE AS THAT.
Tipo de vaga: Tempo Integral
Pagamento: $120.000,49 - $220.000,52 por ano
Benefícios:
- 401(k)
- Employee assistance program
- Health insurance
Localização do trabalho: Presencial
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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