Founding Head, Forward-Deployed Engineering

Invoca; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 200,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits (Day One)

Flexible Time Off

Paid Holidays

Paid Family Leave

Paid Medical Leave

401(k) match

Sabbatical

Professional development

Job summary

Invoca is seeking a Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering to build and lead a team of engineers embedded in our Go-to-Market motion. You will own the function that converts technical credibility into closed deals and successful onboardings—hiring, coaching, prioritizing deals, and serving as the escalation point when needed.

This player-coach role combines leadership with hands-on delivery, balancing pipeline influence and customer outcomes while shaping team health and growth as the

Qualifications

• Experience leading customer-facing technical teams.
• Ability to coach and develop engineers.
• Strong judgment on where to apply engineering resources.

Responsibilities

• Hire, coach, and manage a team of Forward Deployed Engineers; set the bar for what 'great' looks like in a customer-facing technical role
• Triage and prioritize FDE deployment across the deal pipeline and determine which opportunities require engineering support
• Act as the senior technical escalation point on strategic or at-risk deals and implementations
• Partner with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success leadership to define FDE roles within the sales/onboarding motion
• Build operating rhythms for PoCs, debriefs, and reusable assets
• Own the feedback loop from field to product with prioritized asks for leadership
• Report on team impact: deals influenced, time-to-value, win rates
• Manage headcount planning and capacity across locations
• Up to 50% on-site with customers during implementation

Skills

Leadership

Executive communication

Business judgment

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical escalation

Job description

Invoca is seeking a Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering to build and lead a team of engineers embedded in our Go-to-Market motion. You will own the function that converts technical credibility into closed deals and successful onboardings—hiring, coaching, prioritizing deals, and serving as the escalation point when needed.

This player-coach role combines leadership with hands-on delivery, balancing pipeline influence and customer outcomes while shaping team health and growth as the