Principal Forward Deployment Engineer

Cornerstone OnDemand; Hyderabad; On-site; INR 4,200,000 - 6,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Cornerstone OnDemand is seeking a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to bridge Cornerstone’s product engineering teams and strategic enterprise customers, owning end-to-end deployments of AI-native Workforce AI products and translating complex customer needs into product innovations.

You will lead integrations, architect solutions, mentor FDEs, and present deployment strategies to C-suite executives, shaping adoption and value realization across large-scale customer programs.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in enterprise software deployment or solutions engineering.
• 1–2 years deploying AI/LLM-based products in production.
• Strong knowledge of REST APIs, event-driven architectures, and SSO.
• Excellent communication and executive presence.

Responsibilities

• Lead deployments and integrations of AI-native products at enterprise accounts.
• Own solution architecture, implementation strategy, and adoption planning.
• Design AI-driven solutions with Generative AI and Agentic Frameworks.
• Develop reference architectures, playbooks, and integration patterns.
• Mentor junior FDEs and set delivery standards.
• Present strategy to C-suite and senior stakeholders.
• Prototype custom scripts and APIs to accelerate value.
• Stay current with enterprise integration technologies and AI trends.

Skills

Python

Java

Enterprise deployments

Generative AI

Communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Engineering

Tools

Workday

SAP SuccessFactors

Job description

This role is Office Based, Hyderabad Office

This role is Office/Field Based, Hyderabad Office

Principal Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

We are seeking an accomplished Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to serve as the critical bridge between Cornerstone's product engineering teams and our most strategic enterprise customers. As a principal-level FDE, you will own end-to-end technical engagements, drive successful deployments of AI-powered Workforce Agility products, and translate complex customer needs into product innovations.

In this role you will…

• Lead technical deployments and integrations of Cornerstone's AI-native Workforce Agility products at strategic enterprise accounts, ensuring high-impact, successful outcomes.
• Act as the primary technical authority in customer engagements — owning solution architecture, implementation strategy, and long-term adoption planning.
• Partner directly with customers to deeply understand their workforce challenges, then design and deliver tailored AI-driven solutions leveraging Generative AI and Agentic Frameworks.
• Translate field learnings into actionable product feedback, influencing roadmap decisions by collaborating closely with Product, Engineering, and AI teams.
• Build and maintain reference architectures, integration patterns, and deployment playbooks that scale best practices across the FDE organization.
• Mentor and technically guide junior FDEs, establishing standards for customer delivery, technical discovery, and solution design.
• Present technical vision and deployment strategies to C-suite and senior stakeholders, building confidence and driving executive alignment.
• Identify and prototype custom solutions — including scripts, APIs, and AI workflow extensions — that accelerate customer time-to-value.
• Stay current with enterprise integration technologies, AI advancements, and industry trends to continuously elevate customer engagements.

You’ve got what it takes if you have…

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or a closely related field (or equivalent experience in senior enterprise technical roles).
• 6+ years of hands-on experience in enterprise software deployment, systems integration, or solutions engineering — with strong proficiency in Python, Java, or equivalent.
• 1–2 years of experience deploying or integrating products built on Generative AI, LLMs, or Agentic Frameworks in production enterprise environments.
• Deep familiarity with AI/ML concepts (NLP, recommendation systems, LLMs) sufficient to architect AI-native solutions and communicate technical trade-offs to customers
• Proven track record of owning complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deployments from discovery through go-live and value realization.
• Experience with Agentic systems and familiarity with A2A (Agent-to-Agent) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) patterns in customer-facing contexts.
• Strong understanding of enterprise integration patterns — REST APIs, event-driven architectures, SSO/identity, HRIS/HCM systems (Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, etc.).
• Exceptional communication and executive presence: equally fluent explaining architecture to engineers and articulating business value to CHROs and CTOs.
• Outstanding problem-solving instincts — able to diagnose ambiguous customer environments quickly and drive toward solutions under pressure.
• Leadership qualities that inspire trust with customers and cross-functional internal teams alike.

Our Culture:

Spark Greatness. Shatter Boundaries. Share Success. Are you ready? Because here, right now – is where the future of work is happening. Where curious disruptors and change innovators like you are helping communities and customers enable everyone – anywhere – to learn, grow and advance. To be better tomorrow than they are today.

Who We Are:

At Cornerstone, we believe in AI that works in the service of people, amplifying their judgment to drive high-performing, future-ready organizations forward. Cornerstone Workforce AI™, the intelligence platform for workforce readiness, brings together workforce and labor market data into a proprietary Cornerstone People Graph™, translating signals into intelligence, targeting learning where it matters, developing critical skills, and surfacing hidden talent. Delivered as an open, enterprise platform across whatever application your people work in every day, Cornerstone Workforce AI is built for scale, security, and trust, with certified AI guardrails. As an industry leader, Cornerstone is helping approximately 7,000 organizations, 140M+ users, across 186 countries build continuous workforce readiness.

Equal Employment Opportunity has been, and will continue to be, a fundamental commitment at Cornerstone OnDemand. We are proud to be an EOE Protected Veterans/Disability workplace and an affirmative action employer. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at [e-mail].