What does "forward deployed engineer" (FDE) mean?

A forward deployed engineer is embedded directly in a client's environment — not remote from the product team — to design, build and deploy solutions integrated with that client's real data, workflows and infrastructure. The title was pioneered by Palantir and is now used by AI and enterprise SaaS companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and AWS.

What's the career roadmap into this role?

Most forward deployed engineers come from a software engineering or solutions-engineering background and move into the role once they've shown they can own outcomes end-to-end with a client, not just ship code — strong communication and client-facing delivery skills matter as much as engineering depth.

What's the salary range?

Based on the 44 listings on this board with a USD salary range as of October 7, 2026, the middle half of them pays roughly $165K to $240K a year, with a median of $210K — a small sample, so treat it as a directional signal, not a guarantee. Monthly pay is converted to a yearly figure here; hourly and one-time pay is left out.

[Role guide]

Forward Deployed Engineer Jobs

A forward deployed engineer works embedded in a client's environment, building and shipping production solutions against their specific data and workflows — pioneered by Palantir, now common at AI-native companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. We only list the roles where AI tools are actually part of how the work gets done.

0 listings

Every forward deployed role on this board, each tagged by how central AI is to the job. Roles where AI is only mentioned in vague terms are hidden by default — turn them on under Classification in the filters.

Open forward deployed roles

Ophelos

London· today

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-firstHybridSeniorFull-time

claude codecodexPythonTypeScriptRuby

LavendoStaffing agency

San Francisco· today

Forward Deployed Engineer, Enterprise Document AI (SF)

AI-assistedOn-siteSeniorFull-time3+ yrsUSD 220K-320KVisa sponsorship offered

codexPython

Lovable

London· 1 day ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedOn-siteSeniorFull-time5+ yrs

lovableTypeScriptGoRustReactAWS+6

Medeloop

New York, NY, USA; San Francisco, California, United States· 1 day ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-firstSenior

claude codecodexcursorfhirllm apis

Camunda

Remote· 2 days ago

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer - NA

AI-assistedRemote (worldwide)SeniorFull-time

JavaReactPrompt engineeringbpmn

Fluidstack

New York, NY· 4 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer, Manufacturing & Supply Chain

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-timeUSD 224K-300K

claude codecursorOpenAI APIPythonTypeScriptGoMCP

Fluidstack

San Francisco, CA· 4 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer, Infrastructure Development & Delivery

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-timeUSD 224K-300K

claude codecursorOpenAI APIPythonTypeScriptGoAnthropic API+1

Fluidstack

New York, NY· 4 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer, Compute Operations

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-timeUSD 224K-300K

claude codecursorPythonTypeScriptGoKubernetes

Fluidstack

San Francisco, CA· 4 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer, Business Operations

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-timeUSD 224K-300K

claude codecursorOpenAI APIPythonTypeScriptGoAnthropic API+1

Clera

New York City· 5 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedOn-siteMidFull-time2+ yrs

claude codecursorPythonTypeScriptReactFastAPI

Crunchyroll

Los Angeles, California, United States· 5 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedSenior6+ yrsUSD 183K-229K

PythonPrompt engineeringDatadogLangfuseLangSmith

Hippocratic AI

United States· 7 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer (Mid/Senior) - Remote w/Travel

AI-assistedRemote (region-restricted)MidFull-time3+ yrs

PythonPrompt engineeringLangChainLangSmith

CI&T

Brazil· 7 days ago

[Job-32012] Forward Deployed Engineer – Senior Java

AI-firstRemote (region-restricted)SeniorFull-time

claude codecodexcursorgithub copilotJavaoracle database

Booz Allen HamiltonStaffing agency

McLean, VA· 7 days ago

Agentic AI Forward-Deployed Engineer

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-time5+ yrs

claude codecodexcursorPythonTypeScript

Withcoverage

New York, NY· 8 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer, Growth

AI-firstSenior4+ yrs

Prompt engineering

Thinkahead

Gurugram, Haryana· 9 days ago

Senior Technical Consultant - Forward Deployed AI Security Engineer

AI-assistedRemote (region-restricted)SeniorFull-time5+ yrs

claude codecursorgithub copilotPythonGoBashKubernetesAWS Bedrock+8

Highmetric

USA - Hybrid· 12 days ago

Senior Forward Deployed AI Engineer-Banking/Financial Services

AI-firstHybridSenior8+ yrs

claude codePythonTypeScriptJavaScriptPrompt engineeringAWS+4

Infinity Constellation

Warsaw, Poland· 14 days ago

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer - Labrynth

AI-firstRemote (region-restricted)SeniorFull-time

claude codecursorPythonTypeScriptReactNext.jsFastAPI+8

Quindar

Denver, CO· 14 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedHybridMidFull-time3+ yrsUSD 155K-175K

chatgptcursorPythonTypeScriptJavaAWSKubernetes+3

Docker

San Jose, CA· 15 days ago

Principal Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedLeadFull-time10+ yrs

claude codecodexcursorgemini cliPythonTypeScriptGoAWSKubernetes+7

Nice

Japan - Remote· 15 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedRemote (region-restricted)Senior

TypeScriptGoReactPrompt engineering

MoovxStaffing agency

Hibryd - Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico o Colombia· 15 days ago

Lead GenAI Engineer/ AI Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedHybridLeadFull-time5+ yrs

PythonPrompt engineeringLangGraphAWSKubernetes+7

Varick Agents

SF· 15 days ago

Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-firstOn-siteSeniorFull-timeUSD 160K-230K

claude codecodexcursorPythonSQL

Cloudflare

Hybrid· 15 days ago

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-assistedHybridSenior7+ yrs

opencodewindsurfTypeScriptGoRustAWSGCP+1

AccenturefederalservicesStaffing agency

Arlington, VA· 16 days ago

Junior Forward Deployed Engineer

AI-firstHybridEntryUSD 73K-132K

PythonRustPrompt engineeringR

Frequently asked questions

What does "forward deployed engineer" (FDE) mean?: A forward deployed engineer is embedded directly in a client's environment — not remote from the product team — to design, build and deploy solutions integrated with that client's real data, workflows and infrastructure. The title was pioneered by Palantir and is now used by AI and enterprise SaaS companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and AWS.What is a forward deployed engineer?
What's the career roadmap into this role?: Most forward deployed engineers come from a software engineering or solutions-engineering background and move into the role once they've shown they can own outcomes end-to-end with a client, not just ship code — strong communication and client-facing delivery skills matter as much as engineering depth.
What's the salary range?: Based on the 44 listings on this board with a USD salary range as of October 7, 2026, the middle half of them pays roughly $165K to $240K a year, with a median of $210K — a small sample, so treat it as a directional signal, not a guarantee. Monthly pay is converted to a yearly figure here; hourly and one-time pay is left out.Forward deployed engineer salary breakdown

Forward Deployed Engineer Jobs

Median $210K a yearmiddle half $165K to $240K · 44 listings with a stated USD salaryForward deployed engineer salary breakdown