Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) | Salesforce

Uptima; United States; Remote; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Uptima is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to sit with clients, uncover where AI creates real business value, and turn that value into working solutions quickly. This customer-facing role runs the room in ambiguous environments where a preset roadmap often does not exist.

You will join a small delivery team where the FDE owns business value while the Full Stack Engineer handles the build, moving clients from AI curiosity to measurable outcomes.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in consulting, advisory, or SaaS product management.
• Experience eliciting requirements and running workshops with cross-functional stakeholders.
• A track record of taking ideas to working outcomes for customers.
• Experience with Salesforce, especially Service, Field Service, or Revenue Cloud, is a plus.
• Certifications strengthen candidacy: Salesforce Business Analyst, Salesforce Agentforce Specialist, Salesforce Platform Administrator, and Anthropic Claude certifications.
• Bachelor's degree in business, information technology, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Leading discovery workshops with executives, managers, and end users to understand how the business actually runs.
• Identifying and prioritizing high-value AI use cases, including ones the client hasn't thought to ask for.
• Building the business case for each use case: cost savings, revenue impact, and the metrics that prove it.
• Creating the client's AI roadmap, sequencing quick wins and longer-term transformation so value lands early and compounds.
• Translating business problems into AI-forward solution designs, and working with the Full Stack Engineer to prototype and deliver them quickly.
• Owning adoption and value realization after go-live: making sure AI actually gets used and delivers the ROI promised.
• Leading change management across the organization, from executive sponsors to field users, including redesigning workflows so people move to higher-value work.
• Advising clients on responsible AI: guardrails, data protection, and where a human should stay in the loop.
• Serving as a trusted advisor who explains what AI can and can't do in plain business language.
• Supporting pre-sales by spotting where AI fits in client conversations and shaping proposals.

Skills

AI capabilities

Workshop facilitation

Business ROI focus

Client communication

Change management

Self-driven

Remote collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in business or IT

5+ years consulting / SaaS product management

Tools

Salesforce (Service, Field Service, Revenue Cloud)

Claude

Agentforce

Slack

Gmail / Google Calendar

Job description

Location

Remote

Type

Full-Time

Uptima is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to sit with our clients, find where AI creates real business value, and turn that value into working solutions fast. The FDE is customer-facing, runs the room, and is comfortable in the gray: there is rarely a pre-set roadmap, and the client often hasn't asked for AI yet.

The FDE is one role in a small delivery team that brings complementary skills together around a single workstream. The FDE owns the business value. The team's Full Stack Engineer owns the build. Together they help clients move from AI curiosity to measurable outcomes.

What the FDE is responsible for

• Leading discovery workshops with executives, managers, and end users to understand how the business actually runs, including shadowing users in their day-to-day work.
• Identifying and prioritizing high-value AI use cases, including ones the client hasn't thought to ask for.
• Building the business case for each use case: cost savings, revenue impact, and the metrics that prove it.
• Creating the client's AI roadmap, sequencing quick wins and longer-term transformation so value lands early and compounds.
• Translating business problems into AI-forward solution designs, and working with the Full Stack Engineer to prototype and deliver them quickly.
• Owning adoption and value realization after go-live: making sure AI actually gets used and delivers the ROI promised.
• Leading change management across the organization, from executive sponsors to field users, including redesigning workflows so people move to higher-value work.
• Advising clients on responsible AI: guardrails, data protection, and where a human should stay in the loop.
• Serving as a trusted advisor who explains what AI can and can't do in plain business language.
• Supporting pre-sales by spotting where AI fits in client conversations and shaping proposals.

What is needed to be successful as an FDE

• A strong, current understanding of AI capabilities and limits, including large language models, AI agents, and platforms such as Claude and Salesforce Agentforce.
• Hands-on fluency with AI tools: you use them daily and can build a simple prototype or demo to show a client what's possible.
• Strong business instincts and the ability to translate technology into ROI.
• Proven workshop facilitation skills: you can own a room of executives and still be patient enough to shadow a field technician.
• Comfort leading through ambiguity without a defined playbook, and the creativity to shape solutions no one has asked for yet.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including explaining complex AI concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Change management experience across all levels of an organization.
• Self-direction and constant curiosity.
• Comfort working in a fully remote environment using collaboration tools such as Slack, Salesforce, Google Calendar, and Gmail.

Education and experience that help an FDE be successful

• 5+ years in consulting, business analysis, advisory, or SaaS product management.
• Experience eliciting requirements and running workshops with cross-functional stakeholders.
• A track record of taking ideas to working outcomes for customers.
• Experience with Salesforce, especially Service, Field Service, or Revenue Cloud, is a plus.
• Experience in manufacturing, field service, medtech, construction, or trade services is a plus.
• Certifications that strengthen your candidacy: Salesforce Business Analyst, Salesforce Agentforce Specialist, Salesforce Platform Administrator, and Anthropic Claude certifications.
• Bachelor's degree in business, information technology, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

How Uptima supports an FDE

You will work inside a team with colleagues who bring complementary expertise, so you are never solving the client's problem alone. Your leader will meet with you regularly to set and track your goals and support your growth.

You will go through Uptima's workshop facilitation and AI discovery training, get exposure to our past AI engagements, and receive support toward your certification track. Our agentic delivery engine, built on Claude, speeds up every phase of the work from discovery to launch.

We will provide a working environment centered on hard work, open dialog, independence, trust, and fun, along with a laptop and the technology tools you need. You will be led by a passionate, transparent, and approachable leadership team, and through regular one-on-one, team, and company-wide gatherings you will have a voice in shaping where Uptima goes next.