Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Elevate; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Elevate is seeking Forward Deployed Engineers to power AI systems for acquisitions. This role combines customer interaction and software development, requiring analytical skills and familiarity with SQL. You will oversee customer deployments and collaborate with the engineering team to enhance AI platforms. Candidates should excel in communication, embrace autonomy, and have a foundational understanding of data engineering. Elevate offers competitive compensation and meaningful equity in a rapidly growing startup.

Qualifications

• 2+ years experience in consulting or finance, or data engineering and analytics.
• Strong analytical fluency working with messy data in SQL and/or Excel.
• Excellent communication and business sense.

Responsibilities

• Own customer deployments end-to-end, from scoping to ongoing optimization.
• Build and extend the agentic AI platform with the software engineering team.
• Support go-to-market by identifying customer expansion opportunities.

Skills

SQL

Analytical fluency

Excellent communication

Tools

Python

AI tools and LLM APIs

Job description

Elevate (YC S24) is hiring high autonomy, analytical Forward Deployed Engineers to build the AI systems that power the next generation of acquisitions.

We’re creating the operating layer for private equity-backed roll‑ups and holding companies, turning fragmented data and processes into autonomous, decision‑driving systems. As an FDE, you’ll work directly with customers to translate real‑world complexity into scalable, agentic software, owning deployments end‑to‑end while shaping the core platform itself.

About Elevate

Elevate is the AI operating system for acquisitions. Our customers are private equity and venture capital‑backed roll‑ups, holding companies, and serial acquirers. We automate the hardest parts of pre‑ and post‑acquisition growth: system integrations, cross‑platform analytics, and end‑to‑end process automation like accounting month‑end close, so operators can focus on building, not wrangling data.

We’re serving more than 10 mid‑market and large‑cap customers just one year post‑founding, ranging from traditional blue‑collar services roll‑ups (HVAC, pest control, fire & life safety) to AI‑native platforms in white‑collar verticals. While we’ve specifically started with roll‑ups as they have structural multi‑system data challenges that actively impede taking advantage of the current AI wave, we believe all businesses will ultimately require a context layer that sees across their various operational systems.

We’re a lean team of 5, and are hiring quickly in response to growing customer demand. Our founding team brings experience across Bain, BCG, Sycamore Partners, Meta, Away, IBM, and Circle. We’re backed by Y Combinator and South Park Commons, and are well‑capitalized to hire exceptional people who will accelerate our growth.

The Role

Forward Deployed Engineers are the core of Elevate’s model. You’ll sit at the intersection of our customers and our product – translating messy, real‑world business problems into agentic software that runs autonomously. You’ll report directly to the C‑suite and have visibility into every part of the business.

This is a wide‑aperture role. We’re equally excited about strong analytical minds from consulting or finance who know SQL and want to build with AI, and experienced data or AI engineers who want to work closer to the customer. What matters is intensity, curiosity, and a desire to actively build the agentic system that we believe will end up running thousands of businesses across the real economy.

What You’ll Do

• Own customer deployments end‑to‑end — scoping, business logic translation, data ingestion, pipeline delivery, and ongoing optimization — working directly with mid‑market to large‑cap operators
• Build and extend our agentic AI platform, in direct collaboration with our software engineering team
• Support go‑to‑market by joining sales calls and identifying customer expansion opportunities

Who You Are

• 2+ years experience in consulting or finance, with a desire to grow your technical chops, or data engineering and analytics, with a desire to be directly customer‑facing
• Strong analytical fluency working with messy data in SQL and/or Excel
• Excellent communication and business sense – you’re comfortable talking to CFOs and operators, not just engineers
• Scrappy, autonomous, and action‑oriented
• Hungry to build

Bonus Points

• Hands‑on experience building with AI tools and LLM APIs, even for personal use
• SQL and Python proficiency or a strong desire to get there quickly
• Built internal data platforms, migration pipelines, or agentic workflows
• Experience in or exposure to private equity, roll‑ups, or M&A

Our Values

• Bias to Action: Ship something 80% right and learn from customers. We value momentum over perfection.
• Assume Good Intentions: We move fast across disciplines—founders, engineers, customers in the same threads. We solve problems together, not through blame.
• Professional Development: Everyone is building the next version of themselves. We commit time and energy to making each other better every day.

Compensation

Competitive cash compensation and meaningful equity in an early‑stage, high‑growth company