Role Description
Forward Deployed Engineer
Pipeline: 1 candidate active Openings: 20 (largest active hiring initiative) Location: New York City, NY (In-Person) Salary: $180,000 Base Variable Compensation: Uncapped quarterly bonus tied directly to shipped work (Top performers earn an additional $60,000–$80,000+ per quarter) Equity: Competitive Equity Delivery Partner Payout: 17% of first-year salary ($30,600) Employment Type: Full-Time Visa Sponsorship: H-1B Available
About the Company
This fast-growing AI consulting company embeds elite engineering teams directly into Fortune 500 organizations to help them become AI-native. Engineers work alongside client teams to architect, build, and deploy production AI systems that deliver measurable business outcomes.
The company is a formal implementation partner of Anthropic and OpenAI, collaborating directly with Applied AI teams on enterprise initiatives. It also partners with leading AI companies and has grown from 5 to 40 employees in one year, with plans to reach 80 employees this quarter and 150–200 employees by year-end.
About the Role
Forward Deployed Engineers own technical delivery from architecture through production while working directly with enterprise clients. This is a highly autonomous, client-facing engineering role for builders who thrive in ambiguity and enjoy solving complex business problems using modern software and AI.
What You'll Own
- Design, build, and deploy modern web applications and agentic AI solutions
- Lead technical initiatives from architecture through production
- Partner directly with Fortune 500 clients on business-critical AI initiatives
- Present technical solutions to technical and executive stakeholders
- Operate independently with high ownership and minimal oversight
- Travel to client sites approximately once per month
- Ship production software rapidly in fast-moving environments
RequirementsMust-Have
- 3–8+ years of software engineering experience
- Experience building modern web applications or AI systems
- Client-facing or customer-facing engineering experience
- Experience leading technical initiatives
- High ownership and self-directed execution
- Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
Preferred
- Founder, Co-Founder, or CTO experience
- Computer Science or Engineering degree
- Early-stage startup experience
- AI consulting experience
- Experience using agentic coding tools
Ideal Backgrounds
- Founding Engineers
- Startup CTOs
- Technical Founders
- Forward Deployed Engineers
- AI Consultants
- Staff or Senior Software Engineers with strong client interaction
- Solutions Engineers with hands-on development experience
Green Flags
- Genuine client-facing engineering experience
- Founder or startup leadership background
- Proven history of independently shipping products
- High-agency engineering mindset
- Fast execution with minimal direction
- Experience building AI products or consulting with enterprise customers
Red Flags
- Career exclusively at large enterprises with limited ownership
- Forward Deployed Engineer title without hands-on engineering
- Strong academic background but limited production delivery
- Low ownership mentality
- Slow-moving enterprise engineering experience
Compensation
- $180,000 guaranteed base salary
- Uncapped quarterly performance bonus tied directly to shipped work
- Typical performers earn an additional $10,000–$15,000 per quarter
- Top performers have earned $60,000–$80,000+ in a single quarter
- Competitive equity opportunity
Benefits & Perks
- Guaranteed base plus uncapped performance compensation
- Competitive equity
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- HSA, Healthcare FSA, and commuter benefits
- 100% employer-paid life insurance and AD&D
- 100% employer-paid long-term disability insurance
- Responsible PTO
Interview Process
- Pending Approval
- Recruiter Screen
- Hiring Manager
- Take-Home Assessment
- Systems Design
- Final Culture Interview
- Offer
- Hired
Company Details
- Bootstrapped
- 11–50 Employees
- Industry: AI Consulting
- Founded: 2025
Pay: $180,000.00 - $260,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Professional development assistance
- Referral program
- Retirement plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
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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