Forward Deployed Engineering Manager, AWS Forward Deployed Engineering

Amazon; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel 30-50%

Job summary

Amazon Forward Deployed Engineering leads a pod of engineers embedded within strategic enterprise customers, owning delivery and quality for AI systems. The manager guides technical direction, develops engineers, and represents the team to AWS stakeholders, balancing fast delivery with people development.

The role operates across one or more engagements with 30–50% travel, shaping execution cadences and maintaining high engineering standards.

Qualifications

• Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams.
• Proven track record delivering AI/ML production systems.
• Strong stakeholder communication and influence skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead FDE pod delivery across one or more customer engagements. Staff and structure the team for optimal coverage.
• Provide technical oversight of AI programs within scope and resolve blockers.
• Ensure production readiness criteria and improve operational standards for AI systems.
• Hire, develop, and retain FDE talent; drive career growth and calibration standards.
• Identify opportunities to expand AI adoption within customer engagements and codify learnings.

Skills

Leadership of interdisciplinary teams

Delivery management for AI projects

Stakeholder communication

Mentorship and coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

AWS

AI/ML platforms

Job description

Description

A Forward Deployed Engineering Manager (FDE Manager) leads a pod of FDEs embedded within strategic enterprise customers, owning delivery execution, engineering quality, and team development for their scope. FDE Managers own pod-level outcomes — they ensure their team delivers production AI systems that meet customer expectations, develop their engineers' careers, and contribute to the broader FDE practice's engineering standards.

FDE Managers operate at pod/multi-pod scope. They lead 5–15 engineers, own technical delivery across one or more concurrent customer engagements, and define what "great" looks like for their team. They represent the FDE team to customer engineering leaders and AWS stakeholders, balancing delivery execution with people development.

Key job responsibilities

• Lead FDE pod delivery. Own delivery across one or more customer engagements. Staff and structure the team for optimal customer coverage. Define execution cadences and ensure consistent engineering quality across active programs. Requires 30–50% travel.
• Guide technical direction. Provide technical oversight for customer AI programs within your scope. Review architecture decisions and ensure alignment with customer needs and AWS best practices. Resolve technical blockers and escalated strategically when needed.
• Own production excellence for your team. Ensure operational standards, evaluation frameworks, and production readiness criteria are met for AI systems your team builds. Drive improvements that raise the operational bar within your scope.
• Build and develop the team. Hire, develop, and retain FDE talent. Coach junior FDEs toward independence and career growth. Drive performance management and create development plans. Contribute to hiring bar and calibration standards.
• Accelerate customer adoption. Identify opportunities to expand AI adoption within your customer engagements. Ensure learnings are codified into reusable patterns and fed back into the broader FDE practice.

About the team

ABOUT AWS:

Diverse Experiences

Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Work/Life Balance

We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Inclusive Team Culture

AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

Mentorship and Career Growth

We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

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