> 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. # Senior Software Engineer, Custom Apps and AI Agents Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f255b67b1c427683 Cuesta Partners posts a senior FDE role to build what the customer runs in US, at $150,000–$250,000 base, above the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,849 postings with pay. Founding engineer on a new team building custom data applications and AI agents for mid-market clients, with end-to-end ownership from discovery through production deployment. Read from the employer’s posting on November 6, 2026. - [Cuesta Partners](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/cuesta-partners) Posted Nov 5, 2026 by Cuesta Partners · open on Ashby as of Nov 6, 2026 **$150,000–$250,000** US Remote Full-time Founding engineer on a new team building custom data applications and AI agents for mid-market clients, with end-to-end ownership from discovery through production deployment. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2Ff255b67b1c427683&placement=top) - [View posting at Cuesta Partners](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cuesta-partners/d84881ce-05ea-49cb-abe9-f49023db1738/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 $150K–$250K Above the median Midpoint $200K · median $190K This job $150K to $250K. Senior FDE postings, 1,849 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 3. Implementation 4. Operations - **Coding**: Writes production code - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Senior - **Role**: Technical lead ### What they ask for Experience - **6+ years** building and shipping production software Background - **Software engineering** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 6+ years. How many do you have? The posting reads as a senior role. What level are you at now? The work is remote from the US. Can you work from the US? Which of these have you used in production? 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[What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths) ## Conditions - **Location**: US - **Work arrangement**: Remote - **Remote work restrictions**: Remote US - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Pay**: ## More like this [STR](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/str) ### [Lead Mission Engineer - Full Stack (Secret Clearance Required)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/327ed3709e5c23cc) US Remote New · 3d ago $175,000–$240,000 [Seekr](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/seekr) ### [Senior Software Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/ee8d306129529a75) Reston, VA Remote 2w ago $160,000–$230,000 [Red Cell Partners](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/red-cell-partners) ### [Senior/Staff Full Stack Software Engineer, Federal](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f2b085ebb8b7bbc3) Seattle, WA · Mclean, VA Remote 8d ago $180,000–$240,000 ## The job description from Cuesta Partners Posted by Cuesta Partners on Nov 5, 2026 ### Why join Cuesta's Custom Apps and AI Agents team? Cuesta is standing up a new team that builds custom data apps and AI agents for mid-market companies. You will be one of its founding engineers. That means real ownership: you will help choose the tools we build with, define how an AI-native team should work, and see your software running in a client's business within weeks. Every custom app and agent you build changes what happens in the real world for the mid-market businesses we serve. ### What you'll do - Sit with clients and your Cuesta team to explore how the business runs and scope the right solution, then design and build software that changes how the work gets done. - Own solutions end to end: discovery, system design, code, deployment, and iteration in production. - Demo a working solution in under a week, and ship to production in weeks. - Build custom AI agents and LLM features with Cuesta's solution architects and data engineers, connecting to client data, tools, and workflows. - Engineer with Claude Code or whatever comes next, and write the playbook for how our team uses them. - Deploy and run apps on AWS, Azure, Vercel, and similar platforms, using Docker, Kubernetes and infrastructure as code where they fit, with production-grade reliability and security. - Turn what we learn on each engagement into reusable components that make the next build faster. - Shape our stack, our process, and our hiring as the team grows. ### What you'll bring You are a builder who wants to own the whole problem, not a ticket. You move fast, you are energized by new tools, and you can explain a technical tradeoff to a client executive in plain language. You are excited about how AI is changing software engineering, and you want to be at an organization that is embracing that change. ### Minimum qualifications - 6+ years building and shipping production software. - Daily, hands-on use of AI coding tools such as Claude Code. - Strong modern web development fundamentals, and excitement to work in some of these technologies: Python, Node.js, TypeScript, React, Postgres, Docker, LangChain, and LangSmith. - Experience deploying and operating production apps on AWS, Azure, GCP, Vercel, or similar, and familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes and infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi, or similar). - Comfort exploring and scoping ambiguous problems with clients and teammates, and turning them into working systems. ### How you'll grow - **Within 1 month:** Get to know our clients, partners, and toolchain, and ship your first change to a demo or live client solution. - **Within 3 months:** Work with an existing client team to implement a client solution, lead the build of a client demo end to end, and propose the team's standard stack and AI-native workflow. - **Within 6 months:** Deliver a production app or agent for a client, and publish reusable components the team builds on. - **Within 12 months:** Act as a technical lead across engagements, help hire and train new engineers, and own a core part of how Cuesta builds. ### Benefits: What you’ll gain! At Cuesta, we value entrepreneurship, humility, diversity, learning, speed, and balance. We provide our team members with: - Claude Max Plan. - Flexible working location and enabling personal-life harmony with work. - Agency and influence in the company’s total strategy and direction. Own the product not the feature. - Collaboration with a high-performing team. - Competitive base salary (outlined in this listing) and target bonus of 15-25%. - 401k, healthcare benefits, paid time-off, and more! [View posting at Cuesta Partners](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cuesta-partners/d84881ce-05ea-49cb-abe9-f49023db1738/application) ## About Cuesta Partners Technology advisory and delivery firm helping mid-market companies and investors use technology, data, and AI to improve business outcomes. Late-stage private · 100–200 people ## Similar jobs [Titan Banking AI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/titan-banking-ai) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer – Product Focus](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/70d1d05df819706c) US Remote 5mo ago $140,000–$200,000 [Rackspace](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/rackspace) ### [Senior Forward Deployed Engineer – Palantir Certified](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/b36f0526cf1bf6ca) US Remote 2w ago $165,830–$243,142 [LMI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/lmi) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer - Clearance Required](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/561b610fe6b43c8c) US Remote 2w ago $145,000–$250,000 [HavocAI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/havocai) ### [Field Software Engineer ](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/b6617d82b06e86d3) US Remote 2mo ago $150,000–$175,000 [Striveworks](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/striveworks) ### [Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Agentic Systems (Active Secret Clearance)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/ee6dd71d9378887b) Austin, TX Remote 4w ago $185,000–$230,000 - [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior) - [Similar jobs that build what the customer runs](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=builds-for-customers) Hiring at Cuesta Partners and want this page changed or removed? 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