Forward Deployed Engineer | Americas

Planhat•Boston, MA

58d•$170,000 - $250,000•Onsite

About The Position

This role is about applied problem-solving in the real world, where decisions directly impact revenue, retention, and business outcomes. As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will be the heart of Planhat's AI Deployment Program. Joining Planhat as a Founding FDE is a unique professional accelerant. You will work with companies that are early adopters of AI and want to build the future with us. You will gain experience in data engineering, systems design, AI deployment, workflow automation, and commercial operations simultaneously. You will become fluent in applied AI, focusing on deploying AI that actually works, rather than model research. You will develop technical intuition that is extremely rare in the market, opening doors to engineering leadership, product architecture, or applied AI roles in any industry. You will also shape a brand-new discipline, similar to how full-stack engineering emerged in the previous decade. As our Founding FDE, you'll embed with customers, understand their business and systems, and engineer the data pipelines, workflows, and automations that make AI useful and valuable. Success means continuously delivering AI-powered outcomes for customers that are measurable, scalable, and repeatable. You will be seen as a trusted technical partner by customers, bridging the gap between real-world complexity and functional AI systems. You will build the playbook for Forward Deployment Engineering at Planhat, shaping an emerging discipline. You will grow your technical intuition across data engineering, systems design, AI deployment, and commercial operations. You will help companies transition into the AI era with clarity, speed, and real outcomes.

Requirements

3–6 years of experience in consulting, data engineering, software engineering, or similar technical roles
Comfort working directly with customers
Comfort operating in ambiguous environments
Curiosity, ownership, and interest in building something new
Willingness to travel to customer sites
Ability to learn fast
Strong foundation in SQL and data modeling
Experience with Python and/or other scripting languages
Experience integrating with APIs (REST / GraphQL)
Strong foundation in agentic systems
Experience with AI tools to accelerate delivery

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with data pipelines, ETL/ELT, or workflow automation

Responsibilities

Embed with customers to understand their business and systems.
Engineer data pipelines, workflows, and automations to make AI useful and valuable.
Deliver AI-powered outcomes for customers that are measurable, scalable, and repeatable.
Act as a trusted technical partner to customers, bridging the gap between complexity and AI systems.
Build the playbook for Forward Deployment Engineering at Planhat.
Help companies transition into the AI era with clarity, speed, and real outcomes.