We strongly believe that work should be fun and fulfilling. We only place engineers at companies that we’d join ourselves. Every FDE role that we introduce you to has at least $200k total comp. We coach you throughout the interview process so that you are prepared and maximize your chance of success.
The forward-deployed engineering (FDE) role mixes deep technical expertise and communication skills. It sits at the intersection of technology, customers, and real-world impact.
In leading AI companies, FDEs have a hand in engineering—working with customers to help integrate the product; in sales, both to land the initial contract and grow the account; and in product, where the FDE’s internal feedback from bespoke deployments can shape the product roadmap.
FDEs need to know how to code, architect systems, and how to sell. In elite AI startups, FDEs are indispensable Swiss-army knives who span engineering, sales, and product. FDEs are much more than pre-sales resources.
No. The FDE role can touch pre-sales, post-sales, product strategy, and more, beyond implementation and customer engineering alone.
Sales is a new domain for many engineers, and it’s often unclear from the outside how an FDE operates inside a company. We work with each hiring team to understand what the FDE role actually entails. Before introducing our candidates to any hiring team, we explain the role in detail to ensure it’s a potential fit.
FDEs come from a range of backgrounds. We’ve placed product managers, ex-founders, new grads, software engineers, sales engineers, and data scientists. What matters most is technical acumen, strong communication skills, and the drive to learn quickly.
We start with a short introductory screen to learn more about you and determine whether there’s a strong fit for us to work together.
We’re happy to talk whether you’re actively looking or just open to the right move. If you’re searching now, we can help you break into FDE or get in front of companies you want to meet. If you’re looking passively, tell us what would make a role worth considering and we’ll only contact you when we have a potential ideal fit.
During this interview, we’ll build a deeper understanding of your unique spikes, technical acumen, executive presence, interests, and career goals. We’ll also identify any gaps or areas to strengthen before you begin interviewing.
Additionally, we’ll help you develop a clearer understanding of the FDE landscape. The day-to-day responsibilities of a forward-deployed engineer can look very different from one company to another, so we’ll work with you to identify the types of roles, environments, and problems that best align.
When we identify strong matches, we’ll kick off the interview process with the hiring manager.
From there, we’ll support you throughout the process, helping you navigate each stage and providing advice along the way. Depending on the role, we may also run targeted upskilling sessions to help you close any gaps and prepare effectively.