Forward Deployment Engineer

Forward Deployment Engineer

Los Angels, CA

About the Role

We are a leading Internet company launching a new, high-priority business initiative in North America. We are building a greenfield US delivery team and looking for a Forward Deployment Engineer who will act as the primary bridge between our product and our enterprise clients.

Unlike traditional engineering roles, this position is customer-centric: you will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery experience—from onboarding and integration through ongoing adoption and value realization. Your success is measured not by lines of code, but by customer satisfaction, retention, and expansion. You will work closely with client stakeholders (both technical and business) to ensure our AI-powered solutions are deployed smoothly, adopted widely, and deliver tangible business outcomes.

This is an ideal role for someone who enjoys solving real-world problems, has a knack for translating technical concepts into business language, and takes pride in making customers successful.

What You'll Do

• Own the Delivery Journey: Lead customer onboarding, deployment planning, and integration execution for new enterprise clients.
• Customer Success Management: Proactively monitor customer health, usage patterns, and satisfaction; drive adoption campaigns and quarterly business reviews.
• Needs Discovery: Work with client teams to understand their business goals, technical constraints, and success criteria – then define the optimal deployment approach.
• Collaborative Integration: Coordinate with internal engineering and product teams to deliver custom integrations (APIs, data pipelines, enterprise platforms) – you will not write production-grade code from scratch, but you will review, test, and troubleshoot integrations and scripts.
• Training & Enablement: Conduct technical workshops and training sessions for client administrators and end-users to ensure self-sufficiency.
• Issue Resolution: Act as the first point of contact for technical and operational issues during deployment; escalate complex bugs to engineering while providing clear communication to customers.
• Voice of the Customer: Synthesize customer feedback and deployment patterns into actionable product improvement suggestions, influencing our product roadmap.

What You'll Bring

Experience:

• 3+ years in a customer-facing technical role such as Customer Success Engineer, Solutions Consultant, Implementation Consultant, Technical Account Manager, or FDE.
• Proven track record of successfully delivering enterprise software or AI solutions to external clients, managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience working directly with non-technical executives and technical staff (developers, IT ops).

Technical Understanding (not deep coding):

• Familiarity with modern web technologies (REST APIs, cloud infrastructure, databases) – enough to read code, debug basic issues, and write simple scripts (Python, JavaScript, or similar).
• Comfortable with cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP) at a conceptual level – you know how to deploy services, configure networking basics, and monitor logs.
• Understanding of AI/ML is a plus (LLMs, agents, RAG), but not mandatory – you can learn on the job.
• Able to triage technical issues: identify whether it's a configuration, data, or code problem, and route accordingly.

Soft Skills & Customer Success Mindset:

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills – you can explain complex technical concepts to business leaders and translate business needs into technical requirements.
• Strong empathy and active listening – customers trust you because you understand their pain points.
• Project management and organizational skills – you can juggle multiple accounts and timelines without dropping the ball.
• Problem-solving orientation – you don't shy away from ambiguity and are comfortable making decisions with incomplete information.
• Self-starter – you thrive in a fast-paced, greenfield environment with minimal handholding.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Customer Success platforms (Gainsight, Totango, Salesforce) or ticketing systems (Jira, Zendesk).
• Prior experience in a startup or hyper-growth environment.
• Familiarity with enterprise integration patterns (e.g., SFTP, ETL, SOAP, OAuth).
• Hands-on experience with any AI/GenAI products – either as a user or implementer.

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary + performance bonus/equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Flexible PTO and remote work arrangements.
• Early-hire advantage: Be one of the first US team members, help shape our customer delivery playbook and culture.
• Opportunity to work at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and enterprise business – a career-defining experience.

Why This Role?

The FDE title may be technical, but at its core it's about bridging the gap between innovation and real-world value. In 2025–2026, companies are moving beyond AI demos – they need people who can deliver results and make customers love the product. This role offers you the autonomy, visibility, and impact that you'd expect from a founding-level position, without the risk of a true startup. Join us in building something new from the ground up.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.