Engineering
A forward deployed engineer builds the solution and makes it work inside the client's business. Here are the five levels at a glance, then in full below.
Level | Problem | Relationship | Delivery and ROI | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
L0 · Associate FDE owns a task | Understand it before building it | Listen in the room, write clearly | Do what you said, on the day | Ask early, act on feedback |
L1 · FDE owns a piece | Restate the real problem | Build real relationships, listen | Own the result of your piece | Help newcomers |
L2 · Senior FDE owns a workflow | Form it, spot adjacent problems | Get them to open up | Ship a workflow to a number | Mentor juniors |
L3 · Lead FDE owns an engagement | Hunt problems they have not named | First call when a problem appears | Own the engagement ROI | Run and grow the pod |
L4 · Principal FDE owns a capability | Find what we should build next | The executives who advise call first | Own ROI across a book | Grow the Leads |
The levels in full
Level 0: Associate Forward Deployed Engineer
What you own: a task, and your own reliability.
- Problem: Does not start coding on a ticket they do not understand. Reads the code, the logs and the client's system before asking, then asks the question that makes them look new rather than guessing. Can explain why what they are building matters to the client, before they build it. Learns the client's business and the rules it has to work inside.
- Relationship: Present in client conversations, listening and taking notes, before they are speaking in them. Learns names and roles. Writes updates that a non-engineer can read. Never surprises anyone with bad news late.
- Delivery and ROI: Gets a defined task done, tested, reviewed, and running, on the day they said it would be. Says as soon as an estimate stops holding. Understands what number their piece rolls up into, even though someone else owns it.
- People: Asks for help early and specifically. Takes feedback without defending, and does not need the same correction twice. Writes down what they learn so the next person does not have to work it out again.
Level 1: Forward Deployed Engineer
What you own: a piece of a solution.
- Problem: Does not take the problem as handed over. Sits with the people who have it, sees how the work really happens, and can restate the real problem plainly. Learns the client's business and the rules that constrain what we can build.
- Relationship: Builds real relationships with the client's people, not only their own team. Listens more than they talk. Earns trust by doing what they said they would.
- Delivery and ROI: Gets their piece built and running in the client's systems, in production. Owns the result of their piece, not just the code.
- People: Helps the people who join after them. Asks for feedback and acts on it. Shares what they learn.
Level 2: Senior Forward Deployed Engineer
What you own: a whole workflow or solution.
- Problem: Forms the problem for their area with the client, and spots adjacent problems worth solving. Knows the client's business well enough to tell a real pain point from a nice-to-have.
- Relationship: Owns day-to-day client contact for their area. Gets people to tell them what is actually not working, the things that never make it into the brief.
- Delivery and ROI: Gets a whole workflow deployed and working in the client's systems, tied to a number the client cares about. Directs the build and makes it land.
- People: Mentors juniors on the problem and relationship work, not just on how to ship.
Level 3: Lead Forward Deployed Engineer
What you own: an engagement and the pod delivering it.
- Problem: Frames the core problems for the engagement. Actively hunts for problems the client has not named that we can build solutions for, and brings them back. Deep in one industry.
- Relationship: Owns the client relationship for the engagement. Trusted enough that the client brings problems to them first, early, before going to anyone else.
- Delivery and ROI: Accountable for the engagement outcome. Sets the ROI target with the client and gets the pod to hit it. Decides what we reuse and what we build.
- People: Runs the pod and grows the people on it.
Level 4: Principal Forward Deployed Engineer
What you own: a capability and the people in it.
- Problem: Walks a client floor and leaves with the next set of solutions worth building, including on our dime. Sets the firm's view on which problems are worth solving.
- Relationship: The executives who advise the client call first. Turns one problem into a long relationship and a growing account.
- Delivery and ROI: Owns outcomes across a book of engagements. Answerable for the ROI clients actually get.
- People: Grows the Leads. Sets the standard others are mentored against.