Senior Director, Frontline Engineering & Customer Delivery

Decision Lens; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Decision Lens seeks a Senior Director, Forward Deployed Engineering to lead and personally deliver complex customer engagements while building and mentoring the FDE team. The role embeds in customer environments to design and deploy production‑grade applications and sets technical standards for a growing practice.

The candidate will own end‑to‑end delivery, drive scalable patterns, and translate field insights into product feedback. Travel ~40% and on‑site work at customer locations are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years in software engineering, forward‑deployed/field engineering, technical consulting, or enterprise delivery.
• 3+ years leading and directly managing technical teams while remaining hands‑on.
• Proven ability to deliver end‑to‑end software across frontend, backend, data, and workflow.
• Experience embedding with customers in complex environments and translating requirements.
• Strong API, data modeling, and deployment pattern knowledge.
• Hands‑on AI‑assisted development tools experience and prudent risk management.
• Eligibility for Secret or above security clearance; travel about 40%.
• Preferred: DoD/DoW, IC, or government consulting background.

Responsibilities

• Own complex customer engagements from discovery through build, stabilization, and transition.
• Develop and lead the Forward Deployed Engineering team; set technical and delivery bar.
• Mentor FDEs on translating ambiguity into deployed software and responsible AI development.
• Lead high‑stakes engagements and provide senior technical and customer credibility.
• Establish engineering standards for security, communication, and clean exits.
• Institutionalize reusable apps, templates, and accelerators to scale delivery.
• Collaborate with Product/Engineering on roadmap, staffing, and account strategy.

Skills

Leadership

Customer embedding

Full-stack delivery

AI-assisted development

Security best practices

Travel ~40%

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS or related field

Tools

Claude Code

Cursor

GitHub Copilot

APIs

Data modeling

Job description

Decision Lens seeks a Senior Director, Forward Deployed Engineering to lead and personally deliver complex customer engagements while building and mentoring the FDE team. The role embeds in customer environments to design and deploy production‑grade applications and sets technical standards for a growing practice.

The candidate will own end‑to‑end delivery, drive scalable patterns, and translate field insights into product feedback. Travel ~40% and on‑site work at customer locations are expected.