Forward Deployed Engineer

kadence; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity

Job summary

Kadence is hiring a Founding Forward Deployed Engineer to work with enterprise customers in New York City, helping shape the product and serve as a foundational member of the company.

This is not a traditional implementation or customer success role; you will bridge customers, product, engineering, and GTM to solve complex problems and drive product-driven value.

Qualifications

• Experience implementing or deploying enterprise SaaS products.
• Strong customer-facing communication and trust-building.
• Ability to translate business problems into technical solutions.
• Comfort working with Product and Engineering to influence roadmap.

Responsibilities

• Partner directly with enterprise customers to understand workflows and goals.
• Lead customer implementations from discovery through deployment with time-to-value.
• Translate requirements into scalable product improvements with engineering.
• Help shape product direction by identifying recurring customer needs.
• Design playbooks and scalable processes as the customer base grows.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and GTM to solve problems.
• Act as a trusted advisor for customers throughout their journey.

Skills

Enterprise SaaS

Customer-facing

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

SQL / APIs basics

Job description

Founding Forward Deployed Engineer (AI Startup)

Location: New York City (Hybrid)

Compensation: Competitive Base + Meaningful Equity

We're partnering with a well-funded, early-stage AI startup backed by experienced founders that is building cutting-edge software for enterprise customers. They're hiring one of their first Forward Deployed Engineers to work directly with customers, shape the product, and become a foundational member of the company.

This is not a traditional implementation or customer success role.

You'll work at the intersection of customers, product, engineering, and go-to-market—helping solve complex business problems, designing scalable workflows, and ensuring customer feedback directly influences product development.

If you enjoy ambiguity, solving difficult problems, and helping build something from the ground up, this is an exceptional opportunity.

What You'll Do

• Partner directly with enterprise customers to understand their workflows, business challenges, and operational goals.
• Lead customer implementations from discovery through deployment while ensuring rapid time-to-value.
• Translate customer requirements into scalable product improvements and collaborate closely with engineering.
• Help shape product direction by identifying recurring customer needs and turning them into repeatable capabilities.
• Design implementation playbooks, best practices, and scalable processes as the customer base grows.
• Work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and GTM teams to solve customer problems.
• Operate as a trusted advisor for customers throughout their journey.

We\'re Looking For Someone Who Has

• Experience implementing or deploying enterprise SaaS products.
• Strong customer-facing communication skills with the ability to build trust quickly.
• Experience translating business problems into technical solutions.
• Comfortable working with Product and Engineering teams to influence roadmap decisions.
• Experience working in fast-paced environments where priorities evolve quickly.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity.
• A builder mentality—you enjoy creating processes rather than following existing ones.

Nice to Have

• Experience at an early-stage startup or high-growth SaaS company.
• Exposure to AI products, automation platforms, APIs, or workflow tools.
• Experience with technical discovery, solution design, or pre-sales.
• Basic technical knowledge (SQL, APIs, scripting, integrations, or similar).

This Role Is Ideal For Someone Who...

• Loves solving customer problems rather than simply managing projects.
• Enjoys wearing multiple hats and working across technical and business teams.
• Wants to influence product direction instead of just delivering implementations.
• Thrives in startup environments where no two days look the same.
• Wants significant ownership and the opportunity to grow into leadership as the company scales.