ZipProduction engineering
Software Engineer, Forward Deployed (Mid - Senior Level)
San Francisco, CAHybrid
$150,000–$250,000
FDE jobs across the US
118 postings from 53 employers, read for the kind of work, pay and travel each one describes.
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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.
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.
ExperienceUp to 5 years
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 stageLater private
Coding work
Project stages
Implementation share
Estimated from the job description, not measured working hours.
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Estimated from public information about the company. Bands are approximate. Companies without a stated size are listed as not stated.
118 jobs match
Location
Selected metros or remote. Remote jobs may have residency restrictions.
118 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.
118 jobs match
Hybrid
118 jobs match
Type of work
118 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.
118 jobs match
Up to 5 years
Postings that ask for that many years or fewer, plus postings that state no requirement. The kind of experience still matters.
118 jobs match
Posted
118 jobs match
Travel
Postings that do not mention travel are treated as no travel, so they are left out of 25% or more.
118 jobs match
118 jobs
$206,600–$229,000
$185,000–$300,000
$189,000–$330,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
AI Engineer - FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer) - U.S. Federal Sector
Washington, DCHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
IntercomProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer
San Francisco, CA · Chicago, ILSan Francisco, CA +1Hybrid
$160,000–$200,000
$185,000–$300,000
Snorkel AIProduction engineering
Senior/Staff FDE - CUA
New York, NY · San Francisco, CANew York, NY +1Hybrid
$180,000–$320,000
$182,000–$250,208
$180,000–$300,000
$185,000–$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
$200,000–$400,000
$185,000–$300,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer - National Security
US · city not listedHybrid
$182,000–$250,208
AnthropicProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer
New York, NY · San Francisco, CA · +1 moreNew York, NY +2Hybrid
$280,000–$320,000
Pay not posted
$130,000–$190,000
$189,000–$330,000
DatabricksProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - Public Sector
US · city not listedHybrid
$152,900–$210,155
$156,060–$211,140
OpenAIProduction engineering
Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering
San Francisco, CAHybrid
$260,000–$302,000
Pay not posted
Scale AIProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer, GenAI
San Francisco, CA · New York, NYSan Francisco, CA +1Hybrid
$179,400–$224,250
$168,912–$253,368
$153,000–$325,000
$165,000–$330,000
Scale AIProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Software Engineer, Public Sector
Austin, TX · Colorado Springs, CO · +4 moreAustin, TX +5Hybrid
$138,000–$292,560
$185,000–$325,000
OpenAIProduction engineering
Forward Deployed Engineer, Gov
Washington, DC · Seattle, WA · +1 moreWashington, DC +2Hybrid
$145,800–$280,000
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
Scale AIProduction engineering
Senior Mission Software Engineer, Public Sector
Austin, TX · Colorado Springs, CO · +4 moreAustin, TX +5Hybrid
$186,000–$279,000
$140,000–$170,000 · total compensation
$347,000–$385,000
Pay not posted
Compare pay across US FDE roles →
Employer postings · Postings read on · Sources
Frequently asked questions
What do FDE jobs pay?
105 of 118 postings state a pay range. The median is $233,000, and half of them sit between $187,000 and $260,000, across 42 companies.
How much experience do FDE jobs require?
Of 118 postings, 49 state a minimum number of years, from 29 companies. The most common requirement is 3 to 5 years, in 43 of them. The rest ask for under 3 years (6).
Which companies are hiring for FDE jobs?
These 118 postings come from 53 companies. The employers with the most postings are OpenAI (25), Anthropic (9), Baseten (6), Databricks (5) and Intercom (5).
Are FDE jobs remote?
0 postings allow remote work from the US. Another 118 are hybrid. Travel is mentioned in 44 of the 118 postings.
Counted over the 118 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