Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - AI Native Cybersecurity

The Role: Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Location: San Francisco, CA (5 days/week in-office — relocation package provided)

Compensation: $170,000 – $250,000 Base Salary + Competitive Equity

Tech Stack: TypeScript, Node.js, React, Python

Benefits: Comprehensive healthcare/dental/vision, 401(k), daily catered lunch & dinner, commuting stipend, Equinox membership discount, and full relocation support.

I’m currently working with the founders of one of San Francisco’s fastest-growing AI-native cybersecurity startups to find their first Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE).

If you’re an engineer who wants to ship real production code while staying directly connected to high-value enterprise customers, read on.

Why This Team & Opportunity Stand Out

• Hypergrowth & Proven Product-Market Fit with Founding Elite Team: Backed by Y Combinator (W24), this team scaled from $0 to mid-7-figures ARR in under 12 months and is pacing to cross $30M+ ARR over the next year. They protect over 2.5M users across 10,000+ businesses, command premium pricing, maintain virtually zero customer churn, and inbound demand is overflowing.
• Category-Defining Mission: They’ve built an AI-driven platform that defends modern cloud & Microsoft 365 environments from the #1 threat vector in cyber today: automated account takeovers, token theft, and Business Email Compromise (BEC).

What You’ll Do:

• True Hybrid Mandate (~60/40 Split): You aren’t building throwaway sales demos or writing slide decks. You’ll sit shoulder-to-shoulder with core engineering, write production code, and rapidly push fixes and new features.
• Customer Ownership: Serve as the technical point of contact for the largest enterprise accounts—absorbing inbound feedback, diagnosing complex production edge cases, and delivering fixes in hours, not weeks.
• Feature Discovery to Deployment: Translate direct customer pain points into platform improvements, scoping new capabilities and rolling them back into the main codebase.

Who They Are Looking For:

• 2–5 years of software engineering experience as an FDE, Solutions/Deployment Engineer, or early-stage startup SWE with regular customer interaction.
• Full-stack proficiency across TypeScript/Node.js, React, and Python, with a strong grasp of APIs, multi-tenancy, and cloud environments.
• High agency & scrappiness: Comfortable navigating ambiguity, running direct feedback loops with external stakeholders, and prioritizing under startup velocity.