> 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. # Founding Forward Deployed Engineer Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/e3fd47c183cc8879 Skiffra posts a FDE role to build what the customer runs in Los Angeles, CA, at $215,000–$250,000 base, above the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,864 postings with pay. A founding-stage Forward-Deployed Engineer owns customer deployments end to end, from operational discovery and solution design through integration, production readiness, and validation. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [Skiffra](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/skiffra) Posted Aug 14, 2026 by Skiffra · open on Ashby as of Nov 8, 2026 **$215,000–$250,000** + equity Los Angeles, CA +1 Hybrid Full-time A founding-stage Forward-Deployed Engineer owns customer deployments end to end, from operational discovery and solution design through integration, production readiness, and validation. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2Fe3fd47c183cc8879&placement=top) - [View posting at Skiffra](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skiffra/1856e381-1eb7-4f2c-ab74-008c022ff87e/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 $215K–$250K Above the median Midpoint $233K · median $190K This job $215K to $250K. Senior FDE postings, 1,864 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K. ### The work Builds what the customer runs Balance **Mostly building** Project stages 1. Pre-sales (not covered) 2. Proof of concept (not covered) 3. Implementation 4. Operations Travel **Up to 50%** - **Coding**: Configuration only - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Senior - **Role**: Individual contributor ### What they ask for Experience - **4+ years** Relevant experience in software, data engineering, systems integration, enterprise technology, technology startups, technical consulting, or a similarly demanding client-facing environment Background - **Software engineering** - **Implementation and data engineering** - **Consulting** Visa - **No visa sponsorship** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 4+ years. How many do you have? The posting reads as a senior role. What level are you at now? The job is in Los Angeles, CA. Could you work there? The posting says no visa sponsorship. Do you need one? 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**: Los Angeles, CA · San Francisco Bay Area, California - **Work arrangement**: Hybrid - **Remote work restrictions**: Hybrid role with regular in-person collaboration in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area; based in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area. - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Visa sponsorship**: Not available - **Travel**: Up to 50% - **Pay**: ## More like this [Planhat](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/planhat) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer | Americas](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/760df506cf3445ee) Pacific Palisades, CA On-site 4mo ago $170,000–$250,000 · OTE [Anduril](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/anduril) ### [Senior Software Engineer, Discovery](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/6ba3c64ddaf07683) Costa Mesa, CA · Huntsville, AL · +4 more 3mo ago $191,000–$292,000 [Swarm Aero](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/swarm-aero) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer - Embedded](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/a31dd0c0c1d39ad1) Oxnard, CA On-site 4w ago $180,000–$240,000 ## The job description from Skiffra Posted by Skiffra on Aug 14, 2026 ### About Skiffra Skiffra is building the intelligence layer for operational decision-making in physical industries. We're developing AI-native orchestration systems that turn complex, high-stakes operations into intelligent, adaptive workflows. We're starting with mining and natural resources, where decisions move people, equipment and capital, and where the consequences of getting them wrong are real. Our ambition extends well beyond mining. We're building a platform designed to change how physical industries make decisions. ### The Role As a Forward-Deployed Engineer at Skiffra, you will work directly with customers to turn difficult operational problems into working deployments of our platform. You will spend real time on site with operators, business leaders, and technical teams, learning how their systems and workflows actually function and determining how Skiffra can improve them. You will own the technical path from discovery through deployment: understanding the problem, designing the solution, integrating customer systems and data, configuring the platform, validating the result with users, and getting it into reliable operation. You will also identify where the platform needs to evolve and translate field evidence into precise requirements that Skiffra’s product and engineering team can act on. This is a founding-stage role for someone who combines technical depth with business judgment. You should care as much about whether a solution changes an important operating outcome as whether the architecture is sound. Skiffra's platform is rapidly evolving, and your work in the field will help determine how it becomes broadly useful across customers and industries. This person will be based in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area, with a preference for Los Angeles and will be required to travel up to 30-50%. ### What You’ll Do - Embed with customer teams to understand their operations, systems, data, constraints, and most consequential problems - Understand the operational and economic significance of the problem, including the effect on throughput, cost, reliability, risk, or time - Turn ambiguous customer needs into clear technical problems, solution designs, deployment plans, and measures of success - Design integrations across customer systems, APIs, databases, identity systems, ERP platforms, historians, and other operational technology - Configure and deploy the Skiffra platform in customer environments, including data mapping, workflow setup, testing, validation, and production readiness - Diagnose technical problems across Skiffra, customer systems, data pipelines, infrastructure, permissions, and third-party services - Work directly with operators and business leaders to ensure the deployed solution reflects how the operation works and improves a meaningful outcome - Partner closely with product and platform engineers through implementation, then validate that what ships works under real operating conditions - Identify missing platform capabilities and distinguish customer-specific requests from recurring patterns that should become reusable platform capabilities - Translate those findings into clear, evidence-based requirements for Skiffra’s product and engineering team - Document deployment patterns and help build the methods, tools, and playbooks that make future deployments faster and more repeatable ### What We’re Looking For - At least four years of relevant experience in software, data engineering, systems integration, enterprise technology, technology startups, technical consulting, or a similarly demanding client-facing environment - Experience leading ambiguous customer-facing technical work from discovery through a deployed outcome - The judgment and communication skills to earn credibility with customer executives, IT teams, frontline operators, and Skiffra’s product and engineering teams - Strong computer science fundamentals and the ability to reason clearly about systems, data models, APIs, infrastructure, security, and technical tradeoffs - Experience working with data and integrations using tools such as SQL, Python, APIs, cloud services, or enterprise platforms - The judgment to connect technical decisions to customer operations and business outcomes, rather than treating the requested feature as the whole problem - High ownership and comfort working through ambiguity, incomplete information, and unfamiliar operating environments - An AI-native working style: you use modern AI tools fluently to investigate, analyze, document, and move faster while maintaining judgment and accuracy - Willingness to travel up to 50% and spend meaningful time at customer sites, including industrial and remote locations - Ability to work from Los Angeles or San Francisco ### Nice to Have - Experience identifying follow-on customer opportunities from successful deployment outcomes. - Experience deploying enterprise software directly with customers - Experience turning recurring customer needs into reusable product capabilities - Experience with ERP, historian, maintenance, or operational systems such as SAP, PI, or Wonderware - Experience navigating enterprise security, identity, networking, cloud, or on-premises infrastructure - Exposure to industrial, mining, manufacturing, energy, logistics, or other heavy-asset operating environments - French language fluency ### How We Work We value speed, clarity, and technical rigor. We favor simple systems over clever ones, prototypes over over-planning, and ownership over handoffs. You’ll work directly with founders and ship things that matter quickly. ### Location & Work Model This is a hybrid role with regular in-person collaboration in Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area. We are not a remote-only company. ### Work Authorization Candidates must be authorized to work in the country where this role is based. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. ### Benefits & Eligibility This position is eligible for Skiffra’s standard benefits, including health insurance and retirement plans, and may also qualify for participation in the Company’s bonus and incentive programs. ### Equal Opportunity Skiffra is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. [View posting at Skiffra](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skiffra/1856e381-1eb7-4f2c-ab74-008c022ff87e/application) ## Similar jobs [Accenture](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/accenture) ### [Forward Deployed AI Engineer Sr Manager](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/2ef22c72ece768b6) Chicago, IL · Milwaukee, WI · +38 more 2mo ago $112,900–$366,300 [Docflow Labs Inc](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/docflow-labs-inc) ### [Product Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/cb32e192c5c4c004) Los Angeles, CA On-site 1mo ago $150,000–$300,000 [First Resonance](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/first-resonance) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer, Data](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/87a14bba45a0bd5d) Los Angeles, CA On-site 5w ago $150,000–$190,000 [SalesPatriot](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/salespatriot) ### [Lead Forward Deployed Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/e269756eb6cb8219) San Francisco, CA · New York, NY · +2 more On-site 4w ago $150,000–$220,000 [Turing](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/turing) ### [Forward Deployed AI Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/9b4e3e1ddbd6438d) Los Angeles, CA Hybrid 11d ago $200,000–$250,000 - [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior) - [Similar jobs in Los Angeles](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=greater-la) - [Similar jobs that build what the customer runs](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=builds-for-customers) Hiring at Skiffra and want this page changed or removed? 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