Customer Architect (Forward Deployed Engineer)

Harness

16h•$160,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

Harness is seeking a highly technical and customer-focused Customer Architect (Forward Deployed Engineer) to join their Customer Success team in the U.S (West Coast). In this role, you will operate in a Forward Deployed Engineer model, embedding deeply with customers to solve complex technical challenges, accelerate adoption, and deliver measurable business outcomes. You will act as both a hands-on builder and a strategic advisor, working directly within customer environments to design, implement, and optimize solutions. Harness is a multi-module DevSecOps platform, spanning CI/CD, cloud cost management, feature flags, security, and more. As a Customer Architect, you will work across multiple modules and domains, helping customers adopt an integrated platform approach rather than point solutions. You’ll partner with engineering, platform, and security teams to modernize software delivery, improve reliability, and embed security into the development lifecycle.

Requirements

7+ years in software engineering, solutions architecture, DevOps, or technical consulting
Experience working in deeply technical, customer-facing roles, ideally in a forward deployed, consulting, or professional services capacity
Proven ability to lead complex implementations and drive customer outcomes
Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Azure, Terraform, CloudFormation, Linux
Containers & Orchestration: Kubernetes, Helm, Kustomize, OpenShift
CI/CD & DevOps: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Harness, pipeline design
Languages & Scripting: Python, Bash, YAML (Go is a plus)
Strong problem-solving skills with a hands-on, builder mindset
Ability to operate across multiple technical domains rather than a single specialization
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence both engineers and senior stakeholders
Comfortable navigating ambiguity and working in fast-paced environments
Curiosity and a strong commitment to continuous learning

Nice To Haves

DevSecOps: Secure pipeline design and policy enforcement
Familiarity with SAST, DAST, SCA, or supply chain security concepts
Experience integrating security into CI/CD workflows
Experience in roles such as Solutions Architect, Customer Success Engineer, Professional Services, or Forward Deployed Engineer
Experience working with platform engineering or internal developer platforms (IDPs)
Relevant certifications (AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, etc.)
Exposure to security engineering or application security practices

Responsibilities

Embed with customer teams as a hands-on technical partner, working directly in their environments to solve real-world challenges
Own the technical success of customer implementations across multiple Harness modules
Act as a bridge between customer teams and Harness Product & Engineering
Provide hands-on guidance to integrate Harness into existing toolchains and processes
Design and implement CI/CD, infrastructure, and DevSecOps workflows tailored to customer architectures
Lead onboarding, implementation, and enablement programs to accelerate time-to-value
Drive adoption across the breadth of the Harness platform, helping customers expand beyond initial use cases
Architect solutions that span multiple modules (e.g., pipelines, infrastructure, security, cost optimization)
Guide customers toward a platform-centric approach rather than fragmented tooling
Serve as a trusted advisor to engineering and platform leadership
Develop and execute success plans aligned to business and technical outcomes
Lead technical reviews and business reviews to demonstrate value and identify growth opportunities
Analyze usage, pipeline performance, and adoption data to identify gaps and opportunities
Deliver actionable recommendations across technology, processes, and team practices
Proactively identify risks to adoption or retention and drive mitigation strategies
Partner with Product and Engineering to influence roadmap based on customer feedback
Collaborate with Sales and Customer Success on expansion and renewal strategies
Contribute to best practices, reference architectures, and enablement content