> AI agents: this is one page of Nextmove’s FDE site, in Markdown. Nextmove is a job board and free career service for forward deployed engineers (FDEs). Each posting is classified from its text, not its title: the kind of work, how much of it is production code, pre-sales weight, time at customer sites, travel, remote arrangement, level and posted base pay. The site also publishes the aggregates: median pay by level, metro, company and kind of work, and which companies started hiring FDEs each week. Every page under https://nextmove.md/fde is served this way; the index of pages is https://nextmove.md/llms.txt.

# Forward Deployed Engineer

Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/7e4a57ecaa9894ba

Northwood Space posts a FDE role to integrate and configure the product in Washington, DC, at $170,000–$225,000 base, level with the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,864 postings with pay. Guide customer engagements from technical discovery through deployment and expansion. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026.

- [Northwood Space](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/northwood-space)

Posted Jul 22, 2026 by Northwood Space · open on Ashby as of Nov 8, 2026

**$170,000–$225,000** + equity Washington, DC On-site, 5 days a week in office Full-time

Guide customer engagements from technical discovery through deployment and expansion.

- [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2F7e4a57ecaa9894ba&placement=top)
- [View posting at Northwood Space](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/northwoodspace/d0589c2d-0fb5-4463-b479-260ff3e1447f/application)

Free. Upload your resume once, see why each FDE role fits, and get introduced only when you say so.

## At a glance

### Posted base pay

$170K–$225K Level with the median

Midpoint $198K · median $190K

This job $170K to $225K. Senior FDE postings, 1,864 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K.

### The work

Integrates and configures it

Balance **Mixed**

Project stages

1. Pre-sales
2. Proof of concept
3. Implementation
4. Operations

Travel **Up to 30%**

- **Coding**: Writes production code

- **Builds for**: External customers

- **Level**: Senior

- **Role**: Technical lead

### What they ask for

Experience

- **7+ years** customer-facing technical roles

Background

- **Solutions and customer engineering**

### Do you meet what the posting states?

The posting asks for 7+ years. How many do you have?

The posting reads as a senior role. What level are you at now?

The job is in Washington, DC. Could you work there?

Which of these have you used in production?

Answer each one. Nothing is saved or sent.

[What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths)

## Conditions

- **Location**: Washington, DC

- **Work arrangement**: On-site, 5 days a week in office

- **Remote work restrictions**: On-site 5 days per week

- **Employment type**: Full-time

- **Travel**: Up to 30%

- **Pay**:

## More like this

[Realm](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/realm)

### [Forward Deployed Engineer - Washington, D.C](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/c3e27f2a204f7780)

Washington, DC Remote 3mo ago

$115,000–$200,000

[Amazon (incl AWS)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/amazon-incl-aws)

### [Sr Delivery Consultant- AI/ML, Data & Machine Learning (DML)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/4ec7f7e2ef66247d)

Arlington, VA · Herndon, VA 4mo ago

$153,600–$207,800

[Deloitte US](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/deloitte-us)

### [Senior Salesforce Forward Deployed Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/ce778bb4c7f443e0)

Rosslyn, VA 4w ago

$184,100–$306,800

## The job description from Northwood Space

Posted by Northwood Space on Jul 22, 2026

### About Northwood

Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array and parabolic ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.

### Forward Deployed Engineer

Mission Architects help customers adopt and succeed on Northwood's ground station network. You'll work with satellite operators to understand their missions, shape requirements, and guide them from first conversation through deployment and beyond. You'll partner closely with Business Development, Engineering, and Program Management throughout.

This role suits a technically credible operator who can build trust with satellite customers, spot opportunities, and turn mission needs into clear priorities for our internal teams.

### Responsibilities

- Make customer missions succeed on Northwood's network.
- Serve as the primary technical contact for customers during capture, evaluation, onboarding, and post-deployment.
- Get hands-on with implementation and integration — working directly alongside customers and Engineering to bring up, troubleshoot, and validate their operations on the network.
- Ship code, debug integrations, and validate operations alongside customers and Engineering
- Support Business Development on qualification, proposals, and expansion.
- Lead technical discovery, exchanges, demos, and readiness reviews alongside Program Management.
- Learn each customer's mission, workflows, constraints, decision criteria, and success metrics in depth.
- Translate customer needs into clear priorities for Engineering, Product, and BD.
- Surface friction points, adoption blockers, and recurring needs that should shape the product and network.
- Coordinate onboarding and deployment readiness — clarifying requirements, flagging risks, and aligning internal teams around customer objectives.
- Build reusable discovery frameworks and customer-facing materials that help Northwood scale capture and customer success.

### Basic Qualifications

- 7+ years in customer-facing technical roles: solutions or systems engineering, mission operations, technical business development, capture engineering, solutions architecture, or TAM.
- Bachelor's in EE, CE, CS, Aerospace, or related field — or equivalent experience with mission systems, ground systems, networking, cloud, or satellite operations.
- Track record taking complex customer engagements from discovery through deployment or expansion.
- Proven ability to build trust with technical customers and turn ambiguous mission needs into concrete priorities.
- Comfortable working in ambiguous environments spanning hardware, software, networking, and business objectives.
- Strong communicator — able to lead technical conversations, write clear customer materials, and brief internal stakeholders.
- Effective across BD, Engineering, Product, Program Management, and customer teams.
- Willing to travel up to 30%.

### Preferred Qualifications

- Background in satellite communications, RF, space operations, ground stations, or telecom infrastructure.
- Experience with proposals, technical evaluations, demos, pilots, or proof-of-concept work.
- Experience managing technical relationships in mission-critical environments.
- Familiarity with APIs, networking protocols, telemetry, scheduling systems, cloud infrastructure, or mission assurance.
- Ability to obtain or hold TS/SCI clearance.

### Additional Requirements

- This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, Northwood Space reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with optional needs.

- Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed

- This role requires being on-site 5 days per week

### Additional Information

*To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.*

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know at accommodations@northwoodspace.io

[View posting at Northwood Space](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/northwoodspace/d0589c2d-0fb5-4463-b479-260ff3e1447f/application)

## About Northwood Space

Modular ground infrastructure for satellite operators combining phased-array antennas, RF front ends, and control software; compresses deployment timelines and reduces data latency vs. legacy parabolic dishes.

Series B · 100–200 people

## Similar jobs

[Accenture](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/accenture)

### [Full Stack Engineer Manager (FDE)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/3a0bc3b034736923)

New York, NY · Milwaukee, WI · +39 more 2mo ago

$80,400–$316,300

[Second Front Systems](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/second-front-systems)

### [Senior Forward Deployed Engineer - Implementation Focus](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/8a389d79760f752c)

US Remote 4mo ago

$160,000–$190,000

[Cape](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/cape)

### [Solutions Architect, Special Operations](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/a914952b7f9b71ca)

Washington, DC Hybrid 2mo ago

$180,000–$220,000

[PwC (US)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/pwc-us)

### [Forward Deployed Software Engineer-Palantir Foundry-Manager](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/5c609381e348c6d6)

Chicago, IL · Raleigh, NC · +57 more Hybrid 2w ago

$99,000–$232,000

[Appian](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/appian)

### [Senior Consultant](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/37251409c02152fd)

Mclean, VA On-site 3mo ago

$100,000–$200,000

- [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior)
- [Similar jobs in Washington, DC area](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=dmv)
- [Similar jobs that integrate and configure the product](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=technical-delivery)

Hiring at Northwood Space and want this page changed or removed? Email info@nextmove.md and we take it down.

Employer postings · [How we read postings](https://nextmove.md/fde/method)