Forward Deployed Engineer

Diligent; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Direct influence on product strategy

Work on cutting-edge technologies

Shape customer relationships

Job summary

Diligent is looking for a hybrid engineer with a strong entrepreneurial spirit to create end-to-end prototypes and engage with customers. This role requires 3-5 years of experience, excellent customer-facing skills, and the ability to thrive in fast-changing environments. You will influence project and product strategy while working on cutting-edge technologies. The salary range is $130,000 - $150,000 USD, and travel may be required up to 25%. Consider joining a team that values impactful, rapid execution.

Qualifications

• 3-5+ years of relevant, post-college work experience.
• Comfort working with APIs and modern developer ecosystems.
• Proven ability to operate independently in fast-changing environments.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deliver end-to-end prototypes and demos.
• Partner with sales to identify customer needs and tailor prototypes.
• Represent the company in executive-level meetings.

Skills

AI/LLM-based tools

Customer-facing skills

Executive presence

Strong communication skills

Job description

Overview

We are looking for a rare hybrid talent — someone who can hack together end-to-end prototypes at speed while also standing confidently in front of a customer’s executive team. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and business development. You will be one of the first technical faces customers meet, building semi-deployable prototypes, testing product-market fit in the wild, and representing us in high-stakes conversations with senior stakeholders.

If you’re an entrepreneurial engineer who thrives in ambiguity, loves building quickly, and wants to see the immediate impact of your work with customers, this role is for you.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly design, build, and deliver end-to-end prototypes, demos, and proofs-of-concept that help prospects and partners experience the art of the possible.
• Partner with sales and business development teams to identify customer needs, run discovery sessions, and tailor prototypes to demonstrate value.
• Represent the company independently in executive-level meetings (SVP/C-level), confidently articulating both technical and business value.
• Act as a forward‑deployed engineer— embedded in customer/partner environments, surfacing insights, validating opportunities, and feeding learnings back into the product roadmap.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, engineering, and marketing to shape product direction and positioning based on real‑world engagements.
• Provide technical guidance during early partnership discussions, including APIs, integrations, cloud deployments, and lightweight AI/LLM‑driven applications.
• Help establish repeatable frameworks, toolkits, and playbooks for scaling pre‑sales prototyping efforts.

Qualifications

• 3‑5+ years of relevant, post‑college work experience.
• Comfort working with AI/LLM‑based tools, APIs, and modern developer ecosystems.
• Excellent customer‑facing skills: discovery, prospecting, business development, and partnership alignment.
• Exceptional executive presence: confident, articulate, and able to hold your own with senior executives.
• Proven ability to operate independently in ambiguous, fast‑changing environments.
• Strong communication skills: able to translate technical complexity into business value.
• Ability and interest to travel up to 25%, as needed to client sites, but flexible based on personal preferences.

Nice‑to‑Have

• Experience in technical pre‑sales, forward‑deployment, or field engineering roles.
• Background in B2B SaaS, enterprise software, or early‑stage startups.
• Comfort balancing short‑term prototyping with longer‑term scalability considerations.
• Strong storytelling skills and the ability to craft narratives around prototypes and demos.

Benefits

• Shape the earliest moments of our customer and partner relationships.
• Have direct influence on product strategy by bringing back unfiltered customer insights.
• Work on cutting‑edge technologies while owning high‑visibility projects.
• Join a team that values entrepreneurial thinking, speed, and impact.

Compensation

U.S pay range: $130,000 - $150,000 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

We are a drug‑free workplace. Diligent is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer related or HIV/AIDS related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].