Forward Deployed Engineering Manager (FDE Manager)

Globant; Dubai; On-site; AED 400,000 - 680,000; Full time

Job summary

Globant in Dubai, UAE seeks an Engineering Manager (Forward Deployed) to lead and scale a pod of elite engineers embedded with strategic customers. You will own technical delivery, guide architecture, and ensure high-quality outcomes.

You’ll translate ambiguous enterprise requirements into clear plans, manage delivery risk, and mentor engineers while partnering with customer leadership and internal GTM teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in software/data engineering or related field.
• 3+ years of direct engineering management experience.
• Strong background in systems architecture, data pipelines, AI/ML deployments, or cloud infrastructure.
• Proficiency in Python, TypeScript, Java, or Go.
• Excellent communication with executive stakeholders and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery and customer success for enterprise engagements.
• Own the outcomes: drive technical delivery across one or more concurrent engagements.
• Strategic partnering: act as the face of the engineering team to customer leadership.
• Translate ambiguous requirements into clear technical plans and manage risk.
• People leadership: coach, develop, and scale engineers in the FDE track.
• Resource management: align talent to projects while supporting wellbeing.
• Technical craft: provide architectural oversight and CI/CD readiness.
• Synthesize field learnings to improve the platform.

Skills

7+ years experience

Engineering management

Python

TypeScript

Java

Go

Cloud infrastructure

AI/ML deployments

Customer-facing

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

Palantir Foundry

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

• People Leadership & Team Building

At Globant, we are working to make the world a better place, one step at a time. We enhance business development and enterprise solutions to prepare them for a digital future. With a diverse and talented team present in more than 30 countries, we are strategic partners to leading global companies in their business process transformation.

We are seeking an Engineering Manager (Forward Deployed Engineering Manager) who shares our passion for innovation, technical excellence, and customer-focused delivery. This role is responsible for leading and scaling high-performing engineering teams embedded with strategic customers, driving the successful delivery of technical solutions while providing strong technical guidance, ensuring engineering quality, and supporting the growth and development of engineers.

The Role

The Forward Deployed Engineering Manager (FDE Manager) leads and scales a pod of elite engineers embedded directly within our most strategic customers. In this role, you are accountable for three things: the technical quality of the solutions your team builds, the success of your customer engagements, and the career growth of your engineers.

What You'll Do

• Lead Delivery & Customer Success
• Own the Outcomes: Drive technical delivery across one or more concurrent enterprise customer engagements, ensuring that production systems meet customer expectations and operational standards.
• Strategic Partnering: Act as the face of the engineering team to customer leadership and internal Go-To-Market (GTM) stakeholders.
• Scope & Unblock: Translate highly ambiguous enterprise requirements into clear technical plans. Anticipate delivery risks, resolve escalations, and protect your team’s bandwidth.
• People Leadership & Team Building
• Hire & Scale: Attract, interview, and onboard top-tier engineering talent capable of thriving in high-intensity, customer-facing environments.
• Coach & Develop: Act as a dedicated mentor. Drive performance management, set clear goals, and build career development plans across the FDE track.
• Resource Management: Match engineers to projects based on their skill sets, career goals, and optimal staffing cadences, balancing team utilization with wellbeing.
• Technical Craft & Architecture
• Player-Coach: Provide technical oversight for customer programs. Review architectural decisions, data pipelines, and code to ensure alignment with best practices.
• Raise the Bar: Define and enforce what "great" looks like for your pod. Ensure CI/CD practices, evaluation frameworks, and readiness criteria are met for the systems your team builds.
• Product Feedback Loop: Synthesize learnings, reusable patterns, and tooling from the field, and feed them back to the core Product and Engineering teams to improve the foundational platform.

What You Bring

• Experience: 7+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Data Engineering, or a related field, with at least 3+ years of direct engineering management experience.
• Technical Depth: Strong background in systems architecture, data pipelines, AI/ML deployments, or cloud infrastructure. Proficiency in languages like Python, TypeScript, Java, or Go.
• Customer-Facing DNA: Proven experience managing teams in customer-embedded, consulting-adjacent, or forward-deployed environments.
• Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical executive stakeholders, while retaining the credibility to debate architecture with senior engineers.
• Agility: A track record of thriving in fast-paced, ambiguous, and rapidly scaling startup or enterprise environments.

Bonus Points

• Prior experience deploying AI/ML models or Agentic AI applications in enterprise production environments.
• Deep familiarity with modern cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and enterprise data platforms (e.g., Databricks, Snowflake, Palantir Foundry).

Location:

Dubai, UAE

Create with us digital products that people love. We will bring businesses and consumers together through AI technology and creativity, driving digital transformation to impact the world positively.

We may use AI and machine learning technologies in our recruitment process. Compensation is determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and location. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a comprehensive benefits package.

Learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion and Globant’s Benefits.