Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering
About The Position
Invoca is seeking a Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering to build and lead a team of engineers embedded within the Go-to-Market strategy. This role is crucial for translating technical credibility into successful deals and onboardings. The Head of FDE will be responsible for hiring and coaching Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs), prioritizing which deals and accounts receive engineering support, and serving as the primary escalation point for complex technical challenges. Initially, this will be a player-coach role, evolving into a full people-management role as the team expands. Success will be measured by pipeline influence, customer outcomes, team health, and growth.
Requirements
- Prior experience as a Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or similar customer-facing technical role.
- People management experience, or demonstrated leadership in a technical, customer-facing capacity (e.g., leading projects, mentoring, informal team leadership).
- Strong business judgment to effectively prioritize deals for engineering support, even with incomplete information.
- Comfort operating at the intersection of Sales, Product, and Engineering, including the ability to decline stakeholder requests when priorities conflict.
- Proven ability to transform ad-hoc customer work into repeatable processes and reusable assets.
- Excellent executive communication skills for representing the function's impact to leadership.
Responsibilities
- Hire, coach, and manage a team of Forward Deployed Engineers, establishing high standards for customer-facing technical roles.
- Triage and prioritize FDE deployment across the sales pipeline, determining which opportunities and accounts require dedicated technical support.
- Serve as the senior technical escalation point for strategic or at-risk deals and implementations, intervening directly when necessary.
- Collaborate with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success leadership to integrate FDEs into the sales and onboarding processes and define clear handoffs.
- Establish the team's operational framework, including scoping Proofs of Concept (PoCs), debriefing wins and losses, and creating reusable assets.
- Act as the conduit for feedback from the field to the product team, aggregating insights from deals into prioritized requests for product and engineering leadership.
- Report on team impact using business-relevant metrics such as influenced deals, customer time-to-value, and win rates in technically challenging deals.
- Manage headcount planning and team capacity, identifying needs for growth and determining optimal geographical or specialization distribution.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation
- Bonus and/or commission eligibility
- Stock option program
- Day-One Health Benefits – Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Mental Wellbeing support and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Wellness Subsidy for gym memberships, fitness classes, etc.
- Flexible Time Off
- 20 U.S. paid holidays, including a winter break
- Up to 12 weeks of 100% paid leave for baby bonding, adoption, and caring for family members (Paid Family Leave)
- Up to 12 weeks of 100% paid leave for childbirth and medical needs (Paid Medical Leave)
- Access to enterprise-grade AI tools
- Professional Development reimbursement up to $1,000 annually
- 401(k) plan with a company match of up to 4% through Fidelity
- Recognition Programs (President's Club, quarterly/departmental awards)
- Sabbatical program (InVacation) after seven years of service
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
