> 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. # First FDE hire job description template Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/first-fde-hire-job-description Copy a job description template for a founding FDE and decide whether it is a management role. Copy a job description template for a founding FDE and decide whether it is a management role. Published Sep 20, 2026 · Updated Nov 7, 2026 - Use this when the company is hiring its first dedicated FDE or building the function from a very small base. - Hiring the first FDE does not make this a management role, so decide that before you set the level. - Say who makes hiring, roadmap, security and commercial decisions, because a founding engineer needs to know what they cannot decide. - Keep only outcomes the company can observe, and promise no number of customers, launches or revenue that is not real. - Before publishing, check the range and conditions against [how to set compensation for an FDE role](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/fde-compensation-for-employers). ## [EMPLOYER: company name] — Founding Forward Deployed Engineer **Location:** [EMPLOYER: location or approved remote region] **Work arrangement:** [EMPLOYER: office, hybrid schedule, or approved remote arrangement] **Travel:** [EMPLOYER: expected travel range] **Employment:** [EMPLOYER: status] **Compensation:** [EMPLOYER: base range, equity, bonus, and location rules] **Work authorization:** [EMPLOYER: policy and sponsorship details] ### Why we are hiring [EMPLOYER: company name] has [number or description of current customers or deployments] using [product] to solve [problem]. We are hiring the first dedicated FDE to lead [first customer or workflow] from [current state] to [production result], and to turn what we learn into a repeatable way for the next engineer to deliver the work. [EMPLOYER: State whether this is an individual contributor or people management role, and describe any management responsibilities.] You will work closely with [EMPLOYER: founder, engineering lead, product lead, or customer lead]. [EMPLOYER: State who makes hiring, roadmap, security and commercial decisions.] ### What you will own - Work with [EMPLOYER: first customer or user group] to understand the workflow, the constraints and what a useful result looks like. - Decide what to build, configure, defer or escalate within an agreed technical and product scope. - Design and ship [EMPLOYER: product integrations, AI workflows, data tools, or customer applications] in production. - Create a simple delivery lifecycle: discovery, scope, build, validation, launch, monitoring and handoff. - Write the first runbooks, checklists and reusable components that make later deployments safer. - Bring specific product gaps and repeated customer needs to product and engineering. - Explain progress, risks and trade-offs to customer and internal decision-makers. ### What success looks like in the first [EMPLOYER: six months] - [EMPLOYER: A named customer workflow is in production or reaches the agreed pilot milestone.] - [EMPLOYER: The team can explain what the FDE owns, what the customer owns, and what happens after launch.] - [EMPLOYER: At least one repeated delivery step has a documented method or reusable tool.] - [EMPLOYER: Product feedback is tied to observed customer work, with a clear owner for each follow-up.] [EMPLOYER: Keep only outcomes the company can observe. Do not promise a number of customers, launches or revenue unless those commitments are real.] ### Required experience - Taking a technical project from an unclear problem through build, testing and use in a real environment. - Writing and debugging production software in [EMPLOYER: actual languages and stack]. - Working directly with customers, users, operators or another team that depends on the system. - Making scope and technical trade-offs, communicating them, and following through. - Creating lightweight documentation and repeatable practices while continuing to deliver. ### Useful additional experience - [EMPLOYER: domain knowledge] - [EMPLOYER: APIs, data integration, cloud, AI systems, or deployment work] - [EMPLOYER: experience at an early-stage company or in a new function] - [EMPLOYER: incident response, observability, security, or regulated environments] We welcome evidence from software engineering, solutions engineering, implementation, data engineering, technical consulting or another role that combines building with direct problem-solving. Prior management experience is not required unless this job includes people management. [EMPLOYER: Delete that sentence where management is part of the real role, and describe it plainly.] ### How the role will develop [EMPLOYER: Explain whether the next step is deeper technical ownership, a larger customer portfolio, building the FDE team, or another path. Do not promise a title or a promotion timeline.] ### Working conditions and application [EMPLOYER: Describe office days, travel, project cadence, customer contact, on-call expectations, benefits, accommodations, interview stages and application instructions.] Apply: [EMPLOYER: application link] ## Related reading - [How to write an FDE job description](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/fde-job-description) - [Production AI FDE job description template](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/production-ai-fde-job-description) - [Data and integration FDE job description template](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/data-integration-fde-job-description) - [How to interview FDE candidates](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/interview-fde-candidates) - [How to set compensation for an FDE role](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/fde-compensation-for-employers) - [FDEs, solutions engineers or professional services?](https://nextmove.md/fde/resources/fde-vs-professional-services)