Forward Deployed Engineer

Zendesk•New York, NY

41d•$200,000 - $300,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you are part of an elite technical hybrid—part software engineer, part strategic consultant. You don't just sell the dream; you build the reality. You will be embedded with our most strategic customers to solve their most complex, high-stakes technical blockers. Whether it’s architecting a multi-layered AI agent, building custom data pipelines for Zendesk, or integrating our AI capabilities into a legacy tech stack, you are the "boots on the ground" builder who ensures our technology delivers measurable ROI.

Requirements

The "Founder" Mentality: You thrive in ambiguity. You can walk into a messy customer environment, map their undocumented APIs, and find a path to victory without a playbook.
Engineering Rigor: 5+ years of experience writing production-grade code.
Proficiency in Python (for AI/Data) and JavaScript/TypeScript (for frontend/integrations) is required.
Familiarity with Ruby or Java (Zendesk’s core) is a plus.
Full-Stack Mindset: Comfortable navigating the entire stack—from React-based UIs to REST/GraphQL APIs, cloud infrastructure (AWS) and Metaflow
AI Fluency: Deep understanding of the LLM ecosystem. You know how to evaluate model performance, manage context windows, and implement guardrails for enterprise-grade AI.
Communication: Ability to explain complex architectural trade-offs to a CTO while simultaneously pair-programming with a customer’s lead dev.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Zendesk and AI Agents
Background in FDE, Professional Services or Technical Account Management implementing complex systems
Ability to travel 25-50% of the time, as needed to customer sites

Responsibilities

Drive Outcomes and own the "Last Mile" of AI: Lead complex end-to-end deployments of Zendesk’s AI Agents and LLM-powered workflows. You own the discovery, technical scoping, system design, and production rollout.
Troubleshoot the "Unsolvable": Remove technical blockers and act as the final line of defense for complex technical escalations that fall outside the scope of standard Support or Professional Services.
Build Bespoke Agentic Solutions: Work directly with strategic clients to design and code custom integrations and agents. You will personally write critical code, configure RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures, and ensure seamless integration with legacy tech stacks.
Bridge the Gap: Work between the customer’s IT team and Zendesk’s core Product/Engineering teams. You are the field's voice, turning customer friction into product roadmap features.