Forward Deployed Engineer
- Remote (anywhere)
- Full-time
- Software engineering
- $2,500–$3,000 / month
- Posted recently
You’ll apply on Diverse Programmers’s own site.
About the role
We are seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) who can work directly with business stakeholders to understand complex problems, design practical technical solutions, and help take those solutions from concept through production.
This is a hands-on engineering role that sits between software engineering, solution architecture, and technical consulting. You should be comfortable talking with business users, asking the right questions, translating their needs into technical requirements, and then actively building the solution.
You will work across AI, web applications, APIs, cloud infrastructure, integrations, and enterprise systems. Many projects will begin with an ambiguous business problem rather than a detailed technical specification, so you must be comfortable taking ownership and figuring out the right path forward.
We take the time to understand our clients, identifying opportunities where automation can drive significant ROI.
Key Responsibilities
- Work directly with business and technical stakeholders to understand workflows, pain points, and business objectives.
- Turn ambiguous business problems into clear technical requirements, architectures, and implementation plans.
- Design and build production software, APIs, integrations, automation, and AI-enabled applications.
- Rapidly build prototypes and proofs of concept, validate them with stakeholders, and evolve successful solutions into production systems.
- Work across frontend, backend, databases, cloud infrastructure, APIs, and AI services as needed.
- Lead technical discussions and clearly explain recommendations, tradeoffs, risks, and implementation approaches.
- Integrate solutions with existing enterprise systems, APIs, databases, and internal platforms.
- Work closely with stakeholders through development, testing, UAT, rollout, and production adoption.
- Troubleshoot technical and production issues and drive problems through resolution.
- Identify reusable components, patterns, and approaches that can improve future projects.
- Take ownership of business outcomes rather than simply completing assigned development tickets.
Core Requirements
- 3+ years of professional software engineering, solutions engineering, technical consulting, or similar experience.
- Strong software development skills with experience building real production applications.
- Strong written and verbal English communication skills.
- Experience working directly with customers, business stakeholders, or non-technical teams.
- Ability to take an unclear problem, ask the right questions, and independently move toward a practical technical solution.
- Strong understanding of APIs, databases, cloud services, and modern application architecture.
- Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong problem-solving skills and comfort working in fast-moving and sometimes ambiguous environments.
- Ability to balance technical quality, delivery speed, business priorities, and scope.
The strongest Forward Deployed Engineers do not wait for perfectly defined requirements.
You should be comfortable hearing something like, “We have this business problem, but we are not sure exactly what the solution should be,” and then working with stakeholders to understand the problem, determine what should be built, design the architecture, and help deliver the solution.
You should enjoy moving between business conversations, architecture discussions, and hands-on engineering work, sometimes within the same day.
Preferred Skills
- Experience with JavaScript or TypeScript, Node.js, React, Next.js, Python, or similar technologies.
- Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Experience designing and integrating REST APIs, webhooks, or event-driven systems.
- Experience with SQL, relational databases, NoSQL databases, or vector databases.
- Experience with generative AI, LLMs, RAG, AI agents, document processing, or machine learning systems.
- Experience integrating with enterprise platforms such as SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft 365, or similar systems.
- Experience building internal business applications, SaaB products, or enterprise software.
- Previous consulting, startup, solutions architecture, or customer-facing engineering experience.
- Experience working directly with US-based clients or stakeholders.
Compensation & Perks
- Monthly Rate: $2500-$3000 USD (paid via Wise).
- Performance Bonus: Discretionary year-end performance bonus based on results and delivery.
- Direct US Client: No agency middleman taking a large cut of your fees.
- High-Impact Projects: Work directly on real AI, cloud, automation, and enterprise software initiatives.
- Mentorship: Work directly with senior technical leadership and gain exposure to solution architecture, AI, cloud engineering, and enterprise delivery.
- Career Growth: Opportunity to grow into senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Solution Architect, or technical leadership responsibilities.
- Engagement Type: Independent contractor engagement. You are responsible for your own tax filings and social contributions.