Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Forward-deployed engineering sits at a distinctive intersection in SaaS: part product engineering, part customer implementation, and part solution architecture. This Founding Forward Deployed Engineer role is notable because it is explicitly oriented around bringing AI platform capabilities into real enterprise environments, where integration constraints, security considerations, and stakeholder alignment often determine whether a SaaS product delivers durable value.
For a long-term SaaS career, the role builds a rare portfolio of “field-to-platform” experience. Owning engagements from discovery through production launch encourages fluency in translating business problems into deployable software, then feeding deployment learnings back into product direction. That combination—shipping production systems while influencing what the platform becomes—is a strong foundation for future paths in solutions architecture leadership, product engineering, or technical go-to-market roles common in enterprise SaaS.
This position tends to suit engineers who prefer ambiguity and end-to-end ownership, and who are comfortable working across GTM, product, and core engineering without strict handoffs. It also fits professionals motivated by client-facing work that remains deeply technical, especially those interested in LLM-based applications and the operational realities of deploying them at scale.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
About the Role:
As a member of our Forward Deployed Engineering Team, you will partner directly with our customers to architect transformational AI solutions that address their most critical business challenges.
Collaborating with our Go-to-Market, Product, and Engineering teams, you'll bring together technical expertise, knowledge of enterprise AI systems, and client-facing abilities to design and launch production platforms that create measurable business value. You will own the full engagement—from initial discovery and technical planning to solution architecture, development, and production launch.
You will operate at the cutting edge of enterprise AI implementations and be among our founding FDEs who establish our forward-deployed approach. This is a significant opportunity: you'll shape how leading enterprises leverage AI to transform their operations while directly influencing Glean's product evolution through real-world deployment insights.
You will:
- Build production AI applications using Glean's platform including custom agents, workflows, connectors, and integrations that solve real business problems
- Develop deep customer relationships and manage executive stakeholder engagement throughout the lifecycle of your engagements
- Guide customers through the end-to-end deployment of Glean in complex enterprise environments, ensuring smooth implementation and rapid time to value
- Stay current on LLM advancements and AI tools to bring the latest capabilities to customer deployments
- Shape the product roadmap by sharing field learnings about platform strengths and opportunities for development
- Build lasting partnerships with customers while identifying new ways to deploy AI throughout your engagements
About you:
- 4+ years in technical, client-facing roles such as Forward Deployed Engineer, Software Engineer or Solutions Architect. Former technical founders are strongly encouraged to apply
- Production LLM experience including prompt engineering, agent development, evaluation frameworks, and deployment at scale
- Strong full-stack programming skills and experience building custom integrations in hybrid or SaaS environments, with a track record of shipping production software
- Cloud platform experience with GCP, AWS, or Azure
- Enterprise systems knowledge including networking, security frameworks, and common business application stacks
- High agency and comfort with ambiguity—you spot problems early and solve them independently
- Strong communication skills with both technical teams and business stakeholders
- Founder mentality: scrappy, resourceful, and outcome-driven
Good to have:
- Prior experience in customer‑facing, consultative roles (solutions, support, product management) and comfort presenting to senior leaders.
- Exposure to evaluating AI outcomes (e.g., defining success criteria, using sample tasks, reviewing results) and iterating for quality, latency, and cost.
- Ability to analyze usage signals and customer feedback to inform roadmap and drive adoption.
Location:
- This role is hybrid (3-4 days a week in one of our SF Bay Area offices)
Compensation & Benefits:
The standard range for this position is $160,000-$270,000 annually. Compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for variable compensation, equity, and benefits. Special Note: This range encompasses varying levels of the role, you will be assessed for your level during the interview process.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package including competitive compensation, Medical, Vision, and Dental coverage, generous time-off policy, and the opportunity to contribute to your 401k plan to support your long-term goals. When you join, you'll receive a home office improvement stipend, as well as an annual education and wellness stipends to support your growth and wellbeing. We foster a vibrant company culture through regular events, and provide healthy lunches daily to keep you fueled and focused.
We are a diverse bunch of people and we want to continue to attract and retain a diverse range of people into our organization. We're committed to an inclusive and diverse company. We do not discriminate based on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, civil or family status, age, disability, or race.
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