Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) (Mid/Senior Level)

Salesforce; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 88,970 - 287,910; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) and employee stock purchasing program

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Salesforce is looking for a Forward Deployed Engineer in Austin, Texas. This role is central to designing and deploying AI solutions within customer environments. You will work closely with a Deployment Strategist, creating solutions that make a measurable impact from day one.

Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in software engineering, particularly in AI technologies, and a strong foundation in programming languages such as Python and Java. This position offers growth opportunities and a chance to work on innovative projects.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of software engineering or technical delivery experience.
• Experience with customer-facing technical delivery.
• Fluency in at least one programming language.

Responsibilities

• Design and build AI solutions in customer environments.
• Collaborate closely with Deployment Strategist.
• Integrate data pipelines using various data platforms.

Skills

Software engineering

AI tech stack

Python

JavaScript/TypeScript

Java

Apex

Data modeling

APIs and integration

Education

Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Snowflake

Databricks

Salesforce platform

Job description

Applications for this position will be accepted on an ongoing basis.

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword — it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we’re looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce’s core values at the heart of it all.

About The Role

We are hiring Forward Deployed Engineers — experienced Technical Builders who design, build, and deploy agentic AI solutions directly inside enterprise customer environments. You’ll work as part of a delivery team, partnering closely with a Deployment Strategist (Strategic Builder) to co‑build solutions that go live in production environments from day one. Engagements range from a single large strategic customer to multiple accounts simultaneously. The common thread is real code, real environments, and measurable business impact. This work spans configuration, customization, and full‑stack deployment — shipping solutions customers depend on.

The Builder Experience

• AI‑Powered Development: Ship real customer solutions, supported by best‑in‑class AI tools — Cursor, Claude, and Salesforce coding products like Vibes — embedded into your day‑to‑day workflow.
• Collaborative Delivery: Work alongside Senior Forward Deployed Engineers and a Deployment Strategist. Own real components, benefit from structured mentorship, and have a clear path to leading complex deliveries yourself.
• Frontier Access: Work on capabilities most engineers won’t touch for months — spanning Agentforce, data, platform, and headless architectures. Your field insight directly feeds the product teams building them.
• Continuous Innovation: Stay at the forefront, experimenting with emerging AI tools, models, and frameworks, and share what you learn with your team and customers.

What You’ll Be Building

• Develop AI agents and experiences that take real actions for real organizations.
• Design agent intelligence: prompts, reasoning, tool calls, and integration with customer systems, leveraging our Agentic AI platform and current LLM techniques.
• Own technical components end‑to‑end: from architecture choice to deployment, validation, and observability in production.
• Build and integrate data pipelines on Salesforce Data 360, Snowflake, Databricks, and customer data platforms. Model the data, ship the pipeline, and validate the output.
• Build and maintain agent performance dashboards and customer KPI reporting to track deployment health and business outcomes.
• Contribute to proofs‑of‑concept and MVPs that move from sketch to deployable in days, not months.
• Co‑build alongside customers and partners, sharing best practices and enablement as you go, leaving teams more capable after each engagement.
• Surface platform gaps, edge cases, and field insights to senior Engineers and the product team. Your real‑world experience is the product feedback loop.
• Partner with the Deployment Strategist in your pod to translate customer business challenges into agentic solutions that actually ship.

We’re Looking For

• 3+ years (6–10 years for senior levels) of software engineering or technical delivery experience, with at least one production system you’re proud to walk us through — ideally in an AI tech stack, full‑stack development, or frontier models.
• Degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Prior customer‑facing technical delivery experience (consulting, professional services, or forward‑deployed engineering) — a requirement.
• Fluency in at least one of Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, or Apex, and willingness to expand as needed.
• Hands‑on experience with LLMs and prompt engineering, able to explain prompt failures and propose changes.
• Deep understanding of data modeling, APIs, and integration patterns to design them, not just consume them.
• Ability to hold your own in a room with sales teams and customer architects.
• Ship quality code and evaluate AI outputs with engineering rigor.
• Actively tinker with the evolving AI/data landscape — piloting new tools, experimenting with new models, staying genuinely curious.
• Thrive in a collaborative, fast‑moving environment.
• Excited to travel ~25% of the time, working directly alongside customers.

Nice‑to‑Haves

• Salesforce platform experience or certifications (Administrator, Platform Developer I, Agentforce Specialist).
• Familiarity with agent frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex) and orchestration patterns.
• Hands‑on experience with cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery).
• Experience across specialist AI delivery areas: data engineering, platform architecture, or headless deployments.

Accommodations

If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please submit a request via the Accommodations Request Form.

Benefits

When you join Salesforce, you’ll be limitless in all areas of your life. Our benefits and resources support you to find balance and be your best, and our AI agents accelerate your impact so you can do your best. Together, we’ll bring the power of Agentforce to organizations of all sizes and deliver amazing experiences that customers love. Apply today to not only shape the future — but to redefine what’s possible — for yourself, for AI, and the world.

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal‑opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non‑discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions are fair and based on merit. The typical base salary range for this position is $88,970 – $287,910 annually; in certain locations it may be $97,860 – $316,750. Compensation may include bonuses, equity, and benefits as applicable. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.