The Definitive FDE Company Directory This is the most comprehensive, actively maintained list of companies hiring Forward Deployed Engineers, Forward Deployed Software Engineers (FDSEs), and equivalent roles. Updated monthly. Tier 1: Established FDE Programs (50+ FDEs) Palantir Technologies Roles: FDSE, Forward Deployed Infrastructure Engineer, Deployment Strategist Comp range: $170K-$500K+ total comp (L3-L6) Locations: NYC, Palo Alto, DC, Denver, London, globally Work style: Hybrid, 30-50% travel to client sites Tech stack: Java, Python, Foundry/Gotham/Apollo, Spark Security clearance: Required for government work (TS/SCI for some roles) Notable: Invented the FDE role. Largest FDE org in the world. Known for intense decomposition interviews. Databricks Roles: AI FDE, Forward Deployment Engineer, Resident Solutions Architect Comp range: $200K-$520K+ total comp Locations: SF, NYC, remote eligible, global Work style: Hybrid, 20-30% travel Tech stack: Python, Spark, SQL, Delta Lake, MLflow, Unity Catalog Notable: Rapidly expanding FDE org. Created "Head of AI FDE" role in 2025. Strong equity component. Snowflake Roles: Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer Comp range: $180K-$350K total comp Locations: San Mateo, remote eligible Work style: Hybrid, 25-35% travel Tech stack: SQL, Python, Snowpark, Streamlit Tier 2: Growing FDE Programs (10-50 FDEs) Scale AI Roles: Forward Deployed AI Engineer Comp range: $190K-$400K+ total comp Locations: SF, NYC Work style: Hybrid, 15-25% travel Tech stack: Python, LLMs, data annotation pipelines, ML evaluation Notable: FDEs deploy AI solutions directly with enterprise customers. Fast-growing team. Anduril Industries Roles: Forward Deployed Engineer, Mission Software Engineer Comp range: $180K-$380K total comp Locations: Costa Mesa, DC, Seattle Work style: On-site, 10-20% travel Tech stack: C++, Python, Rust, computer vision, autonomy systems Security clearance: Required (most roles) Notable: Defense-focused FDE work. Hardware + software integration. Anthropic Roles: Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer Comp range: $250K-$600K+ total comp Locations: SF, NYC Work style: Hybrid Tech stack: Python, Claude API, RAG, agent frameworks Notable: FDEs help enterprise customers deploy Claude. Top-of-market comp. OpenAI Roles: Solutions Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer Comp range: $280K-$700K+ total comp Locations: SF Work style: On-site preferred Tech stack: Python, GPT APIs, fine-tuning, agent systems Notable: Highest comp in the FDE space. Small, selective team. Stripe Roles: Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Architect Comp range: $200K-$400K total comp Locations: SF, NYC, Seattle, remote Work style: Remote-friendly, 15% travel Tech stack: Ruby, Python, APIs, payments infrastructure Datadog Roles: Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer Comp range: $180K-$340K total comp Locations: NYC, Boston, remote Work style: Hybrid, 25% travel Tech stack: Python, Go, observability, cloud infrastructure Tier 3: Emerging FDE Programs Cohere Comp range: $150K-$280K total comp Locations: Toronto, SF, remote Tech stack: Python, LLMs, RAG, embeddings ElevenLabs Comp range: $160K-$300K total comp Locations: NYC, SF, London, remote Tech stack: Python, audio ML, APIs MongoDB Comp range: $170K-$320K total comp Locations: NYC, Austin, remote Tech stack: MongoDB, Python, Node.js, Atlas Confluent Comp range: $160K-$280K total comp Locations: Remote, Mountain View Tech stack: Kafka, Java, Python, stream processing HashiCorp Comp range: $180K-$350K total comp Locations: SF, remote Tech stack: Go, Terraform, Vault, Consul dbt Labs Comp range: $155K-$270K total comp Locations: Remote Tech stack: SQL, Python, dbt, analytics engineering Salesforce (Agentforce) Roles: AI Forward Deployed Engineer (Agentforce) Comp range: $200K-$380K total comp Locations: SF, NYC, remote Tech stack: Python, LLMs, Salesforce platform, agent frameworks Notable: New program specifically for deploying AI agents to enterprise customers. Ramp Comp range: $180K-$350K total comp Locations: NYC Tech stack: Python, TypeScript, fintech integrations Tier 4: Companies with FDE-Adjacent Roles These companies have roles that function like FDEs but may use different titles: Company Title Comp Range Google Cloud Customer Engineer $180K-$400K AWS Solutions Architect (ProServ) $170K-$350K Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect $160K-$330K Elastic Solutions Architect $160K-$300K Twilio Solutions Engineer $150K-$280K Vercel Solutions Engineer $160K-$300K FDE Hiring Trends (2025-2026) 800% growth in FDE job postings since early 2025 58% of FDE roles are at companies with 11-200 employees AI FDE is the fastest-growing sub-role Security clearance commands $30K-$80K salary premium Remote FDE roles growing, but hybrid still dominates (60%+) This directory is updated monthly. Have a company to add? Reply below or submit a suggestion. Salary data sourced from our FDE Salary Database and community submissions.

Let us build a community-maintained list of companies that hire Forward Deployed Engineers. Established FDE Programs Palantir - The originator of the FDE title (FDSE roles) Databricks - Field Engineering and Solutions Architect roles Scale AI - Forward Deployed Engineers for AI/ML deployments Anduril - Defense tech with embedded engineering roles Similar Roles, Different Titles Stripe - Solutions Architect Datadog - Technical Solutions Engineer Snowflake - Sales Engineer / Solutions Architect MongoDB - Consulting Engineers HashiCorp - Solutions Engineers Startups Many Series A-C startups hire FDE-type roles as their first customer-facing engineers. Know a company that should be on this list? Comment below with the company name, role title, and a brief description!