Forward Deployed Engineer

Crimson Education; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid/remote options

Training budget

Global reach

Psychologist on staff

Job summary

Crimson Education is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to turn real user needs into reliable, fast workflow software guiding students, families, and counselors through the admissions journey.

You will work at the intersection of software engineering, product thinking, and customer engagement, translating ambiguous workflow problems into technical solutions and owning projects end to end.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering fundamentals and hands-on experience building production-quality applications.
• Experience with full-stack development, backend systems, frontend interfaces, APIs, databases, and modern software development practices.
• Strong product sense, with the ability to distinguish between user requests, root problems, and high-leverage product opportunities.
• Customer-oriented mindset and strong communication skills; comfortable speaking directly with clients, asking thoughtful questions, and uncovering true needs.
• Ability to operate in ambiguous environments and turn loosely defined business problems into clear technical execution plans.
• Ability to balance quick iteration with long-term technical maintainability.
• Strong ownership, execution speed, and attention to detail.
• Interest in education technology, college admissions, workflow automation, or service software.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain software systems that support college admissions workflows, including school research, application planning, Common App process management, essay review, and document tracking.
• Work directly with customers and internal service teams to understand their pain points, operational processes, and underlying business needs.
• Translate user requirements into product features, workflow improvements, internal tools, and scalable technical solutions.
• Rapidly prototype, validate, and iterate on product ideas based on real user feedback.
• Collaborate with product, design, operations, and customer-facing teams to define priorities and deliver high-impact solutions.
• Own projects end to end, from problem discovery and technical design to implementation, deployment, and post-launch iteration.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive workflows, improve service quality, and create a smoother application experience for users.

Skills

Full-stack dev

Customer engagement

Product thinking

Software design

Ambiguity handling

Communication

Ownership

Job description

Forward Deployed Engineer

Forward Deployed Engineer at Crimson: turn real user needs into reliable, fast workflow software that guides students, families, and counselors through the admissions journey.

Crimson Education is the world’s leading college admissions consulting firm, with over 1,490 Ivy League offers and 2,410 to the US Top 15. We help ambitious students gain admission to the world’s top universities through expert-led guidance and proven, data‑driven strategies. Crimson students are 7x more likely to get into the Ivy League than their peers. We were recently featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Crimson is the only college admissions consultancy that brings together:

• Former Ivy League and Top 20 admissions officers to rigorously review and refine applications
• Professors and PhD teaching fellows from leading universities to guide students through original, independent research — with pathways to selective peer‑reviewed publication or conference presentation
• Past ISEF winners and judges who coach students to compete for state, national, and international science fair awards
• Capstone project mentors who help students design and scale leadership initiatives with real‑world impact, measurable outcomes, and credible external validation

We’re backed by leading VC firms, including Tiger Global, Heal Partners, IceHouse Ventures, and Movac, and recently closed a USD $40M Series D funding round at a USD $640M valuation. We now operate across 21 markets worldwide, including the US, Canada, UK, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.

About the Role

We are looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer to help build and deliver workflow software for the college admissions application process. Our product supports students, families, counselors, and admissions consultants across key workflows including school selection, Common App material preparation and submission tracking, essay review, application milestone management, and client‑facing service operations.

This role sits at the intersection of software engineering, product thinking, and customer engagement. You will work directly with users to understand their real needs, translate ambiguous workflow problems into technical solutions, and build reliable product experiences that improve the admissions journey.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain software systems that support college admissions workflows, including school research, application planning, Common App process management, essay review, and document tracking.
• Work directly with customers and internal service teams to understand their pain points, operational processes, and underlying business needs.
• Translate user requirements into product features, workflow improvements, internal tools, and scalable technical solutions.
• Rapidly prototype, validate, and iterate on product ideas based on real user feedback.
• Collaborate with product, design, operations, and customer‑facing teams to define priorities and deliver high‑impact solutions.
• Own projects end to end, from problem discovery and technical design to implementation, deployment, and post‑launch iteration.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive workflows, improve service quality, and create a smoother application experience for users.

Requirements

• Strong software engineering fundamentals and hands‑on experience building production‑quality applications.
• Experience with full‑stack development, backend systems, frontend interfaces, APIs, databases, and modern software development practices.
• Strong product sense, with the ability to distinguish between user requests, root problems, and high‑leverage product opportunities.
• Customer‑oriented mindset and strong communication skills; comfortable speaking directly with clients, asking thoughtful questions, and uncovering true needs.
• Ability to operate in ambiguous environments and turn loosely defined business problems into clear technical execution plans.
• Ability to balance quick iteration with long‑term technical maintainability.
• Strong ownership, execution speed, and attention to detail.
• Interest in education technology, college admissions, workflow automation, or service software.

Strong Plus If You Have

• Experience building workflow software, internal tools, CRM systems, SaaS products, or customer‑facing operational platforms.
• Familiarity with the college admissions process, Common App, essay review workflows, or education consulting services.
• Experience working in early‑stage teams or fast‑moving product environments.
• Experience building AI agents, copilot‑style products, workflows, or internal automation systems
• Experience with LLM application infrastructure, eval systems, retrieval, tool execution, or observability
• Interest in education, learning systems, or personalized AI products

Why work for Crimson?

Rapidly growing start up, with a flexible working environment where you will be empowered to structure how you work

Limitless development and exposure - our internal promotions/role changes made up 33% of all recruitment last year

$1000 individual training budget per year, we love to ‘Level Up’ (it’s one of our core values)!

Psychologist on staff

Insightful fireside chats and workshops to help support our high‑performing and ambitious team

Radical Candor is a feedback approach we live by

We’re a global player with 28 markets (and growing) across the globe. Most roles have the option to work from one of our many offices or remotely!

If you're passionate about growing in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and want to work with cutting‑edge technology, then we'd love to hear from you!

Please keep an eye on your spam/junk email folder for correspondence from Team Tailor.

Department
Product & Technology

Role
Software Engineer

Locations
Multiple locations

Remote status
Hybrid

Employment type
Full-time