Forward Deployed Engineer, Partnerships (US)

Forward Deployed Engineer, Partnerships (US)

Function: Technology Partner Management & Partner Engineering

Dotted-line partnership: Commercial Enablement / Ecosystem

Position: Remote, East or Central USA

About Napster:

Founded on the principle of democratizing access, first to music in 1999, now to expertise in the AI era, Napster has consistently remained at the forefront of technological shifts that empower users. Today, the company builds embodied, multimodal AI agents that engage employees and customers where they already work: through video presence, voice, and text. Designed to work alongside people rather than replace them, Napster’s agents carry institutional knowledge into every interaction, elevating the user’s experience and improving business outcomes. For more information, visit napster.com.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer to join our Technology Partner Management function.

This role is the hands-on technical enablement counterpart to our Technical Partner Managers. While Technical Partner Managers own the broader technical partner relationship, strategy, positioning, and coordination across pre-sales and post-sales, the Forward Deployed Engineer is focused on helping turn those strategies and opportunities into tangible partner and customer experiences.

The Forward Deployed Engineer will work across partner pursuits, ecosystem development, onboarding, demos, and partner program design. The role sits within Technology Partner Management but works closely with Commercial Enablement and Ecosystem teams through a dotted-line relationship.

The purpose of the role is to help partners understand, demonstrate, position, and build with our technology, while also creating reusable enablement assets and scalable partner programs that improve effectiveness across the broader ecosystem.

How This Role Complements Technical Partner Managers

The Forward Deployed Engineer and Technical Partner Manager roles are complementary.

Technical Partner Manager

The Technical Partner Manager primarily owns:

• The technical partner relationship and engagement strategy.
• Technical positioning across the partner lifecycle.
• Pre-sales and post-sales technical orchestration.
• Partner readiness, adoption, and technical planning.
• Alignment across partner, sales, product, and technical stakeholders.
• Helping partners understand how to position and present our technology.
• Identifying technical opportunities, gaps, and partner development priorities.

Forward Deployed Engineer

The Forward Deployed Engineer primarily owns:

• Hands-on demo development and technical execution.
• Technical enablement for partners.
• Pursuit-specific demos, prototypes, and solution assets.
• Technical workshops and partner build sessions.
• Developing reusable enablement assets and frameworks.
• Supporting partner onboarding from a practical and hands-on perspective.
• Building scalable components that strengthen partner programs and ecosystem readiness.

Core Responsibilities

Commercial Enablement and Pursuit Support

• Support partner-led and joint customer pursuits by building compelling demos, prototypes, proofs of concept, and technical solution experiences.
• Work with Technical Partner Managers, sales teams, and partners to translate commercial and customer use cases into practical demonstrations.
• Help partners understand how to position, present, and demonstrate our technology in customer conversations.
• Adapt technical assets and demos to support specific industries, partner propositions, and customer scenarios.
• Participate in customer and partner workshops where hands-on technical depth can help advance an opportunity.
• Support commercial teams with the technical assets and demonstrations required to increase partner confidence and improve pursuit quality.

Partner Enablement

• Provide hands-on technical enablement to partners across the US.
• Walk partners through our APIs, platform capabilities, integrations, solution patterns, and relevant technology stack.
• Deliver workshops, demo sessions, technical onboarding, build sessions, and partner enablement activities.
• Help partner teams move from understanding the proposition to being able to demonstrate and use the technology themselves.
• Support partners in developing their own demos, solution propositions, and customer-facing technical stories.
• Create reusable content and assets that allow partner teams to become more self-sufficient.

Partner Programs and Ecosystem Development

• Work closely with the Commercial Enablement and Ecosystem teams to build scalable partner programs.
• Translate recurring partner needs into structured enablement frameworks, technical journeys, and reusable program components.
• Help define practical onboarding and readiness experiences for different partner types.
• Build demo kits, solution patterns, technical playbooks, workshop content, reference implementations, and other reusable assets.
• Contribute to partner certification, accreditation, onboarding, and solution-readiness programs where appropriate.
• Help scale successful approaches from individual partner engagements across the wider ecosystem.

Demo and Solution Development

• Build, maintain, and improve reusable technical demos and showcase environments.
• Develop prototypes and proofs of concept that demonstrate partner and customer use cases.
• Work with APIs, SDKs, integrations, and relevant technology stacks to create working examples.
• Identify opportunities to standardize and automate frequently used demo and enablement assets.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams where deeper technical support or product feedback is required.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Technical Partner Managers to support their strategic partner engagements.
• Maintain a strong dotted-line relationship with the VP of Commercial Enablement and Ecosystem teams to build and maintain solution books, as well as programs built to drive activation, onboarding, and adoption.
• Work with Partner Management, Product, Engineering, Solutions, and GTM teams.
• Share patterns from partner engagements to improve enablement, product experience, and partner programs.
• Provide structured feedback on areas where partners need additional tooling, content, demos, or technical guidance.

What We’re Looking For

• Strong hands-on technical experience working with APIs, SDKs, integrations, and modern application technologies.
• Ability to build and troubleshoot demos, prototypes, and proof-of-concept solutions.
• Experience in Solutions Engineering, Partner Engineering, Developer Enablement, Technical Enablement, or a similar hands-on customer- or partner-facing role.
• Ability to combine technical depth with strong commercial awareness.
• Comfortable working directly with partners, sales teams, and customers during active pursuits.
• Strong ability to explain technical concepts in a way that supports a commercial conversation.
• Experience developing reusable technical enablement, demo assets, or partner-facing content.
• Ability to turn individual use cases into scalable frameworks and programs.
• Strong communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable operating across different partner types, markets, and technology stacks.

Nice to Have

• Experience working within a partner, alliance, channel, or ecosystem organization.
• Experience supporting partner-led sales or joint customer pursuits.
• Experience building partner onboarding or readiness programs.
• Experience creating technical demos, accelerators, or solution showcases.
• Familiarity with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, or similar languages.
• Experience with cloud platforms, APIs, developer tools, Git, CI/CD, and integration technologies.
• Experience in SaaS, AI, platform, or API-led businesses.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means our partners become more effective at positioning, demonstrating, and using our technology, and our ecosystem can scale without relying on bespoke technical support for every opportunity.

You will be successful when:

• Partners can confidently demonstrate our technology in customer conversations.
• Strategic pursuits have strong, relevant, and reusable technical assets.
• Technical Partner Managers have a hands-on counterpart who can rapidly turn strategy into execution.
• Partners reach practical technical readiness faster.
• Reusable demos, frameworks, and enablement assets are used across multiple partners and markets.
• Partner programs become more structured, scalable, and technically relevant.
• The broader ecosystem becomes increasingly self-sufficient.

Role Profile

The role will typically span:

• Commercial enablement and solution playbooks and development
• Partner onboarding and technical enablement
• Partner program and ecosystem development

Team Operating Model

The Forward Deployed Engineer sits within Technology Partner Management and works directly alongside Technical Partner Managers.

The role also maintains a strong dotted-line partnership with Commercial Enablement and Ecosystem, reflecting its responsibility for converting technical capability into scalable commercial enablement, partner readiness, and ecosystem programs.

The role is therefore positioned at the intersection of:

• Technology Partner Management
• Commercial Enablement
• Ecosystem Development

Core Mission

Turn partner strategy and customer opportunities into hands-on demos, scalable enablement, and repeatable partner programs.

Our Culture:

• Impact: Play a crucial role in our growth journey.
• Culture: Join a vibrant team valuing creativity and collaboration.
• Growth: Thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Reward: Enjoy competitive compensation, equity opportunities, and comprehensive benefits.

Ready to shape our future? Apply now and be part of something extraordinary!

We’re looking for more forward-thinking, collaborative people to be part of our innovation journey and mission to push the boundaries of technology. If you’re ready to help us achieve this vision, we’d love to hear from you! At Napster Corp, we’re looking for people who are invigorated by our values and driven to change the world, not those who simply check off boxes.

Napster Corp embraces a diversity of backgrounds and experiences and provides equal opportunity for all applicants and employees. We strive to build a company that reflects a global audience.