Head of Forward Deployed Engineering

Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

47d•$300,000 - $400,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic is seeking an exceptional leader to build and scale our Forward Deployment Engineering (FDE) organization. Reporting to the Global Head of Applied AI, you'll lead a team of elite engineers who embed directly with our most strategic customers to drive transformational AI adoption-from rapid prototyping to production deployment of custom agents and enterprise-scale AI systems. You'll architect and operationalize our FDE service portfolio across traditional enterprises and digital native businesses, ensuring customers realize measurable value while building internal AI capabilities. This role requires equal parts technical depth, commercial acumen, and organizational leadership as you scale a high-leverage team that sits at the intersection of product, engineering, and customer success.

Requirements

10+ years in technical roles with 5+ years leading engineering or solutions teams through hypergrowth
Experience building 0→1 organizations or new service lines within existing companies
Proven ability to attract, develop, and retain senior technical talent in competitive markets
Understanding of enterprise software deployment, API integration patterns, and SDLC tooling
Knowledge of AI/ML systems, LLMs, or developer tooling
History of embedding with customer engineering teams to deliver complex technical solutions
Comfortable whiteboarding system architectures, debugging production issues, and reviewing code alongside your team
Experience defining professional services offerings, engagement models, and pricing strategies
Ability to balance customer success investment with revenue accountability and margin discipline
Track record navigating complex enterprise sales cycles, particularly with Fortune 500 accounts
Skill in cross-functional leadership: you've aligned Sales, Product, Engineering, and CS organizations around common goals
We require at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Build and Scale the FDE Organization
Lead, hire, and develop a world-class team of Forward Deployment Engineers, Engagement Managers, and Platform Specialists
Establish hiring standards, onboarding programs, and career frameworks for technical roles (you've likely interviewed 500+ people and hired 50+ in previous roles)
Build repeatable delivery methodologies for MCP server development, Claude Code SDLC integration, custom agent development, and API product acceleration and continue designing new packages as our products and models evolve.
Drive Customer Transformation at Scale
Own delivery excellence for Tier 1 enterprise customers and strategic DNB partnerships requiring hands-on technical support beyond standard Customer Success
Partner with Sales and Customer Success leadership to define target account criteria and engagement trigger
Architect multi-agent solutions, Centers of Excellence frameworks, and API integration patterns that become referenceable at Fortune 500 scale
Balance 1:1 bespoke engagements with 1:many scalable offerings, determining when to lean on partner ecosystem vs. direct delivery
Shape Product and GTM Strategy
Synthesize field insights from customer engagements to influence Claude product roadmap, platform tooling (MCP, Agents SDK), and developer experience
Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Research, and Field teams to translate customer pain points into product requirements
Define clear handoff protocols between FDE, Customer Success (Activation Managers/CSMs), and Partner channels
Build frameworks for measuring customer outcomes: time-to-value, adoption velocity, production deployment milestones, and business transformation ROI
Establish Commercial and Operational Rigor
Define engagement scoping, pricing, and commercial models for FDE services (balancing value capture with strategic investment)
Resolve IP ownership frameworks and contractual considerations for co-developed solutions (e.g., JPMC precedent)
Build capacity planning models to allocate scarce FDE resources against competing customer priorities
Create executive visibility through QBRs showcasing FDE impact: lighthouse customer wins, reference architectures, and measured business outcomes