Every Company Hiring Forward Deployed Engineers in 2026 (Updated Monthly)
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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.
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