Director, Forward Deployed Engineering

USA, lead, full time, USD 1,63,100–2,86,900 / year, 5+ years

seen 4d ago

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TypeScript
Java
Git
LLMs
JavaScript
Go
RAG
AWS
Python
REST APIs

About the role

Be the one building AI-powered experiences where they matter most.

At •••••••, we help organizations create better customer experiences through AI-powered experience orchestration. Our platform connects people, systems, data and AI to help organizations deliver more personalized service, improve operational efficiency and build stronger customer relationships.

Help build, support and operate technology used by more than 8,000 organizations in over 100 countries – moving AI from possibility to production in real-world enterprise environments every day.

••••••• is building a new Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team to take the most valuable AI use cases from customer idea to production. We are seeking a hands-on, commercially minded leader to build, coach and scale this team of approximately five Forward Deployed Engineers, with plans to grow as demand increases.

FDEs embed with customer business and technical leaders, build working agentic AI on customer systems, data and APIs, and carry it through production and optimization. As the FDE Leader, you are a player coach, accountable for the team's customer outcomes, delivery quality, hiring bar, and the reusable assets that let every engagement make the next one faster.

This is not a traditional people-management role. We want a technical builder and executive-credible leader who can still review configuration, integrations, code, debug a production agent and whiteboard an architecture, while also shaping engagement strategy, staffing and the feedback loop to Product and Engineering.

What you would do

Build, Lead and Develop the FDE Team

* Set clear goals, career paths, feedback cycles and a culture of high ownership, urgency, accountability and customer obsession.

* Establish the team's engineering standards for code, prompts, agent design, testing, evaluation and production readiness, and review work alongside your team.

* Build capacity and staffing models that assign scarce FDE talent against the highest-value engagements, and balance bespoke work with scalable offerings.

* Hire, onboard, coach and retain a high-caliber team of Forward Deployed Engineers, selecting for aptitude, ownership and builder mindset over title.

Own Customer Outcomes End to End

Read from talanto.work, last seen 4d ago.

What they are looking for

* JavaScript

* Python

* Java

* Go

* TypeScript

* AWS

Leadership and Organizational Experience

* 5+ years leading customer-facing technical teams such as forward deployed engineering, solutions architecture, pre-sales engineering, technical consulting or professional services; experience standing up a new team or service line is strongly preferred.

* Proven ability to attract, develop and retain senior technical talent, with a track record of building a high hiring bar and a strong team culture.

* Experience operating in highly matrixed, customer-facing enterprise organizations and aligning Sales, Product, Engineering and Services around common goals.

* Demonstrated innovation leadership and the ability to create repeatable processes without adding bureaucracy.

AI and Technical Expertise

* Strong hands-on background in software engineering, with working proficiency in Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java or equivalent, plus REST APIs, Git and modern cloud architectures (such as AWS).

* Practical depth in LLMs and agentic AI: prompting, tool calling, orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation, grounding, evaluation, guardrails and observability.

* Experience taking AI or software solutions from prototype to production, including integration with enterprise systems, data and APIs (for example Salesforce, ServiceNow or similar platforms).

* Familiarity with AI-native development environments and coding agents, with a willingness to use AI aggressively to accelerate delivery.

* •••••••, CX, contact center or conversational/voice AI expertise is valuable but not required.

Executive Presence and Communication

* Equally comfortable in C-suite strategy discussions and technical deep dives; able to translate complex AI architectures into business outcomes and measurable ROI.

* Strong storytelling, workshop facilitation and stakeholder management skills, with a history of embedding with customer teams in complex engagements.

Business and Strategic Mindset

* Understanding of enterprise sales cycles, value-based positioning and how technical delivery drives adoption, renewal and expansion.

* Ability to balance customer success investment with commercial discipline and to prioritize ruthlessly in ambiguity.

* Bias for action, high ownership and a strong sense of urgency.

The Profile We Are Building

A business thinker, hands-on builder, customer technologist and relentless owner who builds once and scales everywhere. This leader is NOT a pure people manager, a pure architect or a presenter without a keyboard. They coach builders because they are one.

Success in This Role

* A fully staffed, high-performing FDE team with strong retention and clear career growth.

* Measurable customer outcomes and faster time-to-value on FDE engagements.

* Improved prototype-to-production conversion.

* A growing library of reusable agents, integrations, evaluations and reference architectures.

* Lighthouse customer wins and referenceable stories.

* Tight, effective feedback loops with Product, Engineering, Pre-Sales, Services and Customer Success.

Role Details

* Team size: Approximately 5 Forward Deployed Engineers at launch.

* Travel: Regular travel to customer sites and team events, as required by engagements.

Why •••••••

••••••• empowers organizations to create exceptional customer and employee experiences through AI-powered experience orchestration. Joining ••••••• means helping shape how enterprises adopt agentic AI at global scale and building a team that turns that promise into production outcomes.

What comes with it

Not specified

ask on the first call

Work format

—

Full time

Level

Lead

Where

USA

This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range listed below. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidate’s experience, qualifications, skills, and location. This role might also be eligible for a commission or performance-based bonus opportunities.

$163,100.00 - $286,900.00

* Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance.

* Telehealth coverage

* Flexible work schedules and work from home opportunities

* Development and career growth opportunities

* Open Time Off in addition to 10 paid holidays

* 401(k) matching program

* Adoption Assistance

* Fertility treatments

Click here to view a summary overview of our Benefits.

Working at •••••••

* AI at enterprise scale – Build, support and operate AI-powered technology used by more than 8,000 organizations worldwide. 150+ new AI features were released in the last fiscal year. * A flexible-first culture – Join a global team of nearly 7,000 employees with flexible ways of working designed to help people do their best work. * Growth in the AI era – Build future-ready skills through mentorship, learning programs, leadership development and education support. * Time to recharge and give back – Benefits include paid volunteer time, August Free Fridays, well-being resources and regionally tailored programs for employees and their families. * Recognized globally – ••••••• is Great Place to Work® certified in 17 countries and 94% of employees are proud to tell others they work at •••••••.

Learn more about our culture, AI innovation and sustainability commitments through our Careers site and Sustainability Report.

What Happens After You Apply

After you apply, here's what you can typically expect:

* Our Talent Acquisition team reviews your application with the hiring team.

* A Talent Acquisition Partner will review your application and, if your background is aligned, schedule a Zoom interview.

* Next, you'll meet the hiring manager and other members of the interview team.

* We aim to keep the process focused and respectful of your time, with no more than five interviews in most cases.

* After interviews are complete, our team will follow up with the final steps.

Every application is reviewed by a person. Response times may vary by role and location, but our team will keep you informed throughout the process.

Stay Connected

Stay connected to learn more about how we're applying AI to customer and employee experience challenges and get notified when relevant opportunities become available.

Get notified about relevant opportunities .

Be the one building what's next - where AI, experience and impact come together.

Employee Referral

If a ••••••• employee referred you, please apply using the link they shared so we can connect your application to their referral.