Forward Deployed Engineer
XcedeAbout the role
A top NYC-based tech company is looking for a seasoned Founding Forward Deployed Engineer. You will operate as a technical lead on high-stakes, ambiguous customer deployments and own both technical and business value outcomes end-to-end. You will set the bar for customer engagement and deployments of our technology, helping establish the foundation for deployment.
You will ramp quickly toward management responsibilities and help grow a team that can operate under pressure to deliver meaningful outcomes for customers. You will also help shape how AI can be leveraged to drive real-world impact, as well as how the team organizes to deliver that impact. You will partner closely with the firm's core functions to ensure field work informs roadmap priorities, drives new exploration, and supports safe deployment at scale.
In this role, you will:
Act as the technical lead for customer engagements, owning problems end-to-end from definition to resolution
Operate with strong agency, delivering outcomes through clarity, speed, tight coordination, and high technical quality
Guide deployment strategy and help define the operating model for swift, safe execution
Define and build deployment primitives that increase both customer impact and engagement velocity
Operate as a player-coach, setting a high bar for execution while helping grow the team through direct, actionable feedback
Codify successful patterns into tools, playbooks, and roadmap inputs that create leverage for the firm
Identify early signals and escalate them with urgency—whether in product behavior, customer environments, or delivery practices
You may thrive in this role if you:
Bring 4+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience
Have 0→1 experience building reusable capabilities under ambiguity, and can make disciplined standardization-versus-customization decisions instead of defaulting to bespoke work
Have led high-pressure technical projects from prototype to production
Write and review production-grade code across frontend and backend using JavaScript or Python
275-400k base + equity
Responsibilities
- Act as the technical lead for customer engagements, owning problems end-to-end from definition to resolution
- Operate with strong agency, delivering outcomes through clarity, speed, tight coordination, and high technical quality
- Guide deployment strategy and help define the operating model for swift, safe execution
- Define and build deployment primitives that increase both customer impact and engagement velocity
- Operate as a player-coach, setting a high bar for execution while helping grow the team through direct, actionable feedback
- Codify successful patterns into tools, playbooks, and roadmap inputs that create leverage for the firm
- Identify early signals and escalate them with urgency—whether in product behavior, customer environments, or delivery practices
Qualifications
- Bring 4+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience
- Have 0→1 experience building reusable capabilities under ambiguity
- Have led high-pressure technical projects from prototype to production
- Write and review production-grade code across frontend and backend using JavaScript or Python
Benefits
- Equity
Skills mentioned
About Xcede
Global Technology Recruitment Specialists. We source and select top talent across all technology sectors globally. Founded in 2003, our vertical specialists provide global transformational talent in data, AI & machine learning, product, software, cloud and cyber. As part of the Xcede Group, we work with businesses, from pioneering start-ups to global brands, to find project-based or permanent talent that enables innovation in line with their vision and goals.