$120,000–$150,000
FDE jobs that build what the customer runs at early-stage companies
154 postings · 99 companies · 85 state pay: median $207,000, half $170,000–$237,000
Postings read on
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Location
Selected metros or remote. Remote jobs may have residency restrictions.
Pay
Matches the top of the posted range, annualized in US dollars and sometimes including variable pay. Postings with no posted range are hidden when you choose an amount.
Arrangement
Type of workBuilds what the customer runs
Level
Our reading of the role, not the employer’s title. Junior: guided work; Mid: independent delivery; Senior: leads an ambiguous project through production; Staff+: leads across teams or projects.
Experience
Postings that ask for that many years or fewer, plus postings that state no requirement. The kind of experience still matters.
Posted
Travel
Postings that do not mention travel are treated as no travel, so they are left out of 25% or more.
Individual contributor or manager
Company stageEarly (pre-seed–Series A)
Coding work
Project stages
Implementation share
Estimated from the job description, not measured working hours.
Who you build for
Visa sponsorship
Company size
Estimated from public information about the company. Bands are approximate. Companies without a stated size are listed as not stated.
154 jobs match
Location
Selected metros or remote. Remote jobs may have residency restrictions.
154 jobs match
Pay
Matches the top of the posted range, annualized in US dollars and sometimes including variable pay. Postings with no posted range are hidden when you choose an amount.
154 jobs match
Arrangement
154 jobs match
Builds what the customer runs
154 jobs match
Level
Our reading of the role, not the employer’s title. Junior: guided work; Mid: independent delivery; Senior: leads an ambiguous project through production; Staff+: leads across teams or projects.
154 jobs match
Experience
Postings that ask for that many years or fewer, plus postings that state no requirement. The kind of experience still matters.
154 jobs match
Posted
154 jobs match
Travel
Postings that do not mention travel are treated as no travel, so they are left out of 25% or more.
154 jobs match
Early (pre-seed–Series A)
154 jobs match
$150,000–$250,000
$120,000–$200,000
Pay not posted
$222,000–$290,000
$150,000–$180,000
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer - US
San Francisco, CA · Austin, TX · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
Pay not posted
$150,000–$200,000
$100,000–$160,000
Pay not posted
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer - US
San Francisco, CA · Austin, TX · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
Pay not posted
$150,000–$180,000
$180,000–$300,000
$150,000–$200,000
Pay not posted
Pay not posted
$180,000–$300,000
$200,000–$260,000
Pay not posted
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
San Francisco, CA · Atherton, CA · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
Pay not posted
Pay not posted
Pay not posted
$200,000–$300,000
$240,000–$300,000
$140,000–$200,000
Pay not posted
$170,000–$220,000
$200,000–$300,000
$175,000–$350,000
Pay not posted
$175,000–$300,000
$100,000–$190,000
Forward Deployed Engineer, Physics & Simulation
Menlo Park, CA · San Francisco, CAMenlo Park, CA +1On-site
$200,000–$275,000
Pay not posted
$130,000–$165,000
$200,000–$400,000
Founding Forward Deployed Engineer - US
San Francisco, CA · Austin, TX · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
Pay not posted
Pay not posted
$175,000–$275,000
$150,000–$350,000
All 154 build what the customer runs.
Frequently asked questions
What do FDE jobs that build what the customer runs at early-stage companies pay?
85 of 154 postings state a pay range. The median is $207,000, and half of them sit between $170,000 and $237,000, from 65 companies.
How much experience do FDE jobs that build what the customer runs at early-stage companies require?
Of 154 postings, 46 state a minimum number of years, from 35 companies. The most common requirement is 3 to 5 years, in 28 of them. The rest ask for under 3 years (13), 6 to 9 years (4) or 10 or more years (1).
Which companies are hiring for FDE jobs that build what the customer runs at early-stage companies?
These 154 postings come from 99 companies. The employers with the most postings are Istari Digital (9), Northslope Technologies (5), Obin AI (5), Voltai (5) and Brain Co. (4).
Are FDE jobs that build what the customer runs at early-stage companies remote?
19 postings allow remote work from the US. Another 50 are hybrid and 69 are on-site. The remaining 16 say nothing about arrangement. Travel is mentioned in 53 of the 154 postings.
Counted over the 154 postings in this search. Postings read on September 21, 2026. These are the postings Nextmove tracks today, not a market survey.
Employer postings · How we read postings