ZipProduction engineering
Software Engineer, Forward Deployed (Mid - Senior Level)
San Francisco, CAHybrid
$150,000–$250,000
FDE jobs across the US
124 postings from 57 employers, read for the kind of work, pay and travel each one describes.
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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.
ArrangementHybrid
Type of work
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.
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TravelUp to 25%
Postings that do not mention travel are treated as no travel, so they are left out of 25% or more.
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Company stageLater private
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124 jobs match
Location
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124 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.
124 jobs match
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124 jobs match
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124 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.
124 jobs match
Experience
Postings that ask for that many years or fewer, plus postings that state no requirement. The kind of experience still matters.
124 jobs match
Posted
124 jobs match
Up to 25%
Postings that do not mention travel are treated as no travel, so they are left out of 25% or more.
124 jobs match
124 jobs
$206,600–$229,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - Public Sector/National Security
Washington, DCHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
$189,000–$330,000
Snorkel AIProduction engineering
Senior/Staff FDE - CUA
New York, NY · San Francisco, CANew York, NY +1Hybrid
$180,000–$320,000
IntercomProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer
San Francisco, CA · Chicago, ILSan Francisco, CA +1Hybrid
$160,000–$200,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
AI Engineer - FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer) - U.S. Federal Sector
Washington, DCHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
$180,000–$300,000
Snorkel AIProduction engineering
Senior/Staff FDE - Synthetic Data Generation
New York, NY · San Francisco, CANew York, NY +1Hybrid
$180,000–$320,000
Pay not posted
$182,000–$250,208
$200,000–$400,000
AnthropicProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer
New York, NY · San Francisco, CA · +1 moreNew York, NY +2Hybrid
$280,000–$320,000
Pay not posted
DatabricksProduction engineering
Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - Public Sector
Washington, DCHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
$130,000–$190,000
$156,060–$211,140
OpenAIProduction engineering
Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering
San Francisco, CAHybrid
$260,000–$302,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - National Security
US · city not listedHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
Pay not posted
$168,912–$253,368
Judi HealthProduction engineering
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer
Charlotte, NC · Denver, CO · +1 moreCharlotte, NC +2Hybrid
$116,400–$200,000
$182,000–$250,208
Scale AIProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer, GenAI
San Francisco, CA · New York, NYSan Francisco, CA +1Hybrid
$179,400–$224,250
VercelProduction engineering
Forward-Deployed Engineer
San Francisco, CA · New York, NY · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
$137,000–$207,000
Invisible TechnologiesProduction engineering
Principal Software Engineer, Applied AI (Forward Deployed)
New York, NYHybrid
$209,000–$300,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - Public Sector
US · city not listedHybrid
$152,900–$210,155
$165,000–$330,000
Invisible TechnologiesProduction engineering
Senior Software Engineer, Applied AI (Forward Deployed)
New York, NYHybrid
$180,000–$264,000
Invisible TechnologiesProduction engineering
Staff Software Engineer, Applied AI (Forward Deployed)
New York, NYHybrid
$209,000–$300,000
$211,000–$302,000
AnthropicProduction engineering
Applied AI Engineer, Beneficial Deployments (Life Sciences)
San Francisco, CA · New York, NYSan Francisco, CA +1Hybrid
$280,000–$320,000
$160,000–$230,000
$140,000–$170,000 · total compensation
$347,000–$385,000
$165,000–$330,000
Pay not posted
$140,000–$170,000 · total compensation
$347,000–$385,000
AnthropicProduction engineering
Staff+ Software Engineer, Public Sector
San Francisco, CA · New York, NY · +1 moreSan Francisco, CA +2Hybrid
$405,000–$485,000
Compare pay across US FDE roles →
Employer postings · Postings read on · Sources
Frequently asked questions
What do FDE jobs pay?
112 of 124 postings state a pay range. The median is $218,000, and half of them sit between $185,000 and $265,000, across 47 companies.
How much experience do FDE jobs require?
Of 124 postings, 66 state a minimum number of years, from 38 companies. The most common requirement is 3 to 5 years, in 37 of them. The rest ask for 6 to 9 years (21), under 3 years (6) or 10 or more years (2).
Which companies are hiring for FDE jobs?
These 124 postings come from 57 companies. The employers with the most postings are OpenAI (21), Anthropic (9), Databricks (8), Baseten (6) and Intercom (5).
Are FDE jobs remote?
0 postings allow remote work from the US. Another 124 are hybrid. Travel is mentioned in 38 of the 124 postings.
Counted over the 124 postings in this search. Postings read on September 18, 2026. These are the postings Nextmove tracks today, not a market survey.
Browse jobs by location and work
FDE jobs by location
- SF Bay Area · 688 jobs · 288 companies · 688
- New York metro · 599 jobs · 264 companies · 599
- Washington, DC area · 303 jobs · 75 companies · 303
- Seattle area · 153 jobs · 54 companies · 153
- Chicago · 136 jobs · 46 companies · 136
- Dallas–Fort Worth · 125 jobs · 34 companies · 125
- Los Angeles · 123 jobs · 50 companies · 123
- Austin · 117 jobs · 52 companies · 117
- Boston area · 109 jobs · 46 companies · 109
- Atlanta · 90 jobs · 33 companies · 90
- Denver–Boulder · 77 jobs · 22 companies · 77
- Houston · 49 jobs · 16 companies · 49
- San Diego · 44 jobs · 12 companies · 44
- Raleigh–Durham · 43 jobs · 17 companies · 43
- Miami · 37 jobs · 12 companies · 37
- Philadelphia · 37 jobs · 11 companies · 37
- Minneapolis–St. Paul · 37 jobs · 8 companies · 37
- Kansas City · 28 jobs · 5 companies · 28
- Phoenix · 23 jobs · 5 companies · 23
- Portland · 22 jobs · 5 companies · 22
- Salt Lake City · 4 jobs · 3 companies · 4
FDE jobs by work arrangement
FDE jobs by kind of work
- Production engineering · 1083 jobs · 384 companies · 1083
- Internal deployment & tooling · 399 jobs · 253 companies · 399
- Implementation & delivery · 364 jobs · 209 companies · 364
- Deployment strategy · 163 jobs · 92 companies · 163
- Deployment team leadership · 104 jobs · 71 companies · 104
- Technical pre-sales · 43 jobs · 27 companies · 43
- Customer adoption & accounts · 22 jobs · 20 companies · 22
FDE jobs by level
FDE jobs by individual contributor or manager
- Individual contributor · 1090 jobs · 497 companies · 1090
- Technical lead · 966 jobs · 398 companies · 966
- People manager · 103 jobs · 77 companies · 103
FDE jobs by company stage
- Public · 587 jobs · 122 companies · 587
- Later private · 546 jobs · 159 companies · 546
- Growth (Series B–C) · 349 jobs · 146 companies · 349
- Early (pre-seed–Series A) · 214 jobs · 108 companies · 214
- Bootstrapped · 60 jobs · 28 companies · 60
- Subsidiary · 54 jobs · 27 companies · 54
FDE jobs by coding work
- Production code · 1678 jobs · 625 companies · 1678
- Configuration / integration · 260 jobs · 162 companies · 260
- Prototypes / scripts · 98 jobs · 62 companies · 98
- No coding · 66 jobs · 45 companies · 66
FDE jobs by project stage
- Implementation / production · 2105 jobs · 709 companies · 2105
- Ongoing operations · 1629 jobs · 621 companies · 1629
- Proof of concept · 787 jobs · 335 companies · 787
- Pre-sales / evaluation · 606 jobs · 265 companies · 606
FDE jobs by who you build for
- External customers · 1656 jobs · 525 companies · 1656
- Internal teams · 334 jobs · 223 companies · 334
- Both · 157 jobs · 106 companies · 157
FDE jobs by visa sponsorship
- Available · 69 jobs · 19 companies · 69
FDE jobs by travel
- 25% or more · 448 jobs · 140 companies · 448