Technical Pre-Sales Prototyper / Forward Deployed Engineer

Diligent; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Diligent in New York is looking for a Technical Pre-Sales Prototyper/Forward Deployed Engineer to build and deliver innovative prototypes in collaboration with customers. This role involves representing Diligent's technical capabilities in executive-level meetings and requires strong problem-solving and communication skills. The position offers a salary between $130,000 and $150,000 USD, with opportunities to influence product strategy and work on high-visibility projects.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of relevant, post-college work experience.
• Comfortable working with APIs and modern developer ecosystems.
• Ability to translate technical complexity into business value.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly design, build, and deliver end-to-end prototypes.
• Represent the company independently in executive-level meetings.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product and engineering.

Skills

AI/LLM-based tools

Customer-facing skills

Executive presence

Communication skills

Job description

Technical Pre-Sales Prototyper / Forward Deployed Engineer

New York, New York, United States

Here’s a summary of the role:

We are looking for a rare hybrid talent—someone who can hack together end-to-end prototypes at speed while also standing confidently in front of a customer’s executive team. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, product, and business development. You will be one of the first technical faces customers meet, building semi‑deployable prototypes, testing product‑market fit in the wild, and representing the company in high‑stakes conversations with senior stakeholders.

If you’re an entrepreneurial engineer who thrives in ambiguity, loves building quickly, and wants to see the immediate impact of your work with customers, this role is for you.

Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll do (not all of it, just the important stuff):

• Rapidly design, build, and deliver end‑to‑end prototypes, demos, and proofs‑of‑concept that help prospects and partners experience the art of the possible.
• Partner with sales and business development teams to identify customer needs, run discovery sessions, and tailor prototypes to demonstrate value.
• Represent the company independently in executive‑level meetings (SVP/C‑level), confidently articulating both technical and business value.
• Act as a forward‑deployed engineer— embedded in customer/partner environments, surfacing insights, validating opportunities, and feeding learnings back into the product roadmap.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, engineering, and marketing to shape product direction and positioning based on real‑world engagements.
• Provide technical guidance during early partnership discussions, including APIs, integrations, cloud deployments, and lightweight AI/LLM‑driven applications.
• Help establish repeatable frameworks, toolkits, and playbooks for scaling pre‑sales prototyping efforts.

These are the essentials you’ll need to get an interview:

• 3–5+ years of relevant, post‑college work experience.
• Comfort working with AI/LLM‑based tools, APIs, and modern developer ecosystems.
• Excellent customer‑facing skills: discovery, prospecting, business development, and partnership alignment.
• Exceptional executive presence: confident, articulate, and able to hold your own with senior executives.
• Proven ability to operate independently in ambiguous, fast‑changing environments.
• Strong communication skills: able to translate technical complexity into business value.
• Ability and interest to travel up to 25%, as needed to client sites, but flexible based on personal preferences.

It would be great if you had these to, but we’ll support you if you don’t:

• Experience in technical pre‑sales, forward‑deployment, or field engineering roles.
• Background in B2B SaaS, enterprise software, or early‑stage startups.
• Comfort balancing short‑term prototyping with longer‑term scalability considerations.
• Strong storytelling skills and the ability to craft narratives around prototypes and demos.

Why Join Us?

• Shape the earliest moments of our customer and partner relationships.
• Have direct influence on product strategy by bringing back unfiltered customer insights.
• Work on cutting‑edge technologies while owning high‑visibility projects.
• Join a team that values entrepreneurial thinking, speed, and impact.

This is a high‑trust, high‑impact role. You’ll be dropped into mission‑critical situations, given the freedom to build, and trusted to represent the company at the highest levels.

U.S pay range

$130,000 – $150,000 USD

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are a drug‑free workplace. Diligent is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition, genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].