Forward Deployment Engineer
Forward Deployment Engineer Curate Partners | Remote | Fractional with plenty of opportunity to expand as we grow in this area.
About the Role
Curate Partners is seeking both experienced Forward Deployment Engineers (FDE) AND those who possess the skills of a Forward Deployment Engineer that are looking to become one! This is an exciting opportunity to work directly with clients to turn complex business challenges into practical, working technology solutions. This is a highly hands-on role at the intersection of software engineering, AI, solution architecture, and consulting. As a Forward Deployment Engineer, you will work closely with business and technical stakeholders to understand real-world problems, determine how technology can address them, architect an appropriate solution, and then help build it. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable discussing a business process with stakeholders, designing a technical approach, and opening a development environment to build a working prototype. This is a remote, fractional opportunity reporting to the Chief Consulting Officer at Curate Partners.
What You'll Do
Partner directly with business and technical stakeholders to understand complex problems, workflows, and desired outcomes. Translate business needs into clear technical approaches and working solutions. Design and rapidly develop prototypes and proofs of concept. Build applications, integrations, data workflows, automations, and AI-enabled solutions. Work with APIs, enterprise data, cloud platforms, and existing systems to connect solutions with real-world environments. Apply generative AI, LLMs, agents, and modern AI development tools where appropriate. Make pragmatic architecture decisions based on business requirements, technical constraints, scalability, security, and speed. Work iteratively with stakeholders to test assumptions, gather feedback, and continuously improve solutions. Help move successful prototypes toward scalable, production-ready implementations. Communicate technical concepts effectively to both technical and nontechnical audiences. Take ownership from problem discovery through solution architecture and hands-on development.
What We're Looking For
We're less concerned with whether you've previously held the title Forward Deployment Engineer and more interested in whether you've done this kind of work. Your background may be in Software Engineering, AI Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Full Stack Engineering, Data Engineering, Machine Learning Engineering, or another hands-on technical discipline. The strongest candidates will bring capabilities across three areas: Hands-On Engineering You can personally build. You're comfortable writing code, prototyping quickly, integrating APIs and systems, working with data, and using modern development tools to turn concepts into functional solutions. Solution Architecture You understand the bigger technical picture. You can reason across applications, data, APIs, infrastructure, cloud environments, security, integrations, dependencies, and deployment considerations. You understand technical tradeoffs and can design solutions that fit the environment rather than forcing a predetermined approach. Client-Facing Problem Solving You can operate effectively with both business and technical stakeholders. You're comfortable entering environments where requirements aren't fully defined, asking the right questions, understanding how people actually work, and translating business problems into technical solutions. Technical Experience We are interested in candidates with experience across several of the following areas: Software engineering and application development Python and/or other modern programming languages SQL and data-intensive applications REST APIs and system integration Generative AI and applied AI development LLM-powered applications, agents, or intelligent workflows AI-assisted development tools AWS, Azure, and/or Google Cloud Platform Solution and application architecture Data engineering and modern data platforms Containers and cloud-native development CI/CD and modern software delivery practices Rapid prototyping and proof-of-concept development You do not need to be an expert in every technology listed above. We're looking for technical breadth, strong engineering fundamentals, and the ability to learn new technologies quickly. What Makes Someone Successful in This Role The right Forward Deployment Engineer is a builder and problem solver first. You Build, don't just recommend. You're comfortable turning ideas into working technology. Think in systems. You understand how applications, data, infrastructure, users, and business processes interact. Operate well in ambiguity. You don't need a fully defined requirements document before you can begin solving a problem. Ask strong questions. You understand the problem before deciding what should be built. Take ownership. You're focused on whether the solution actually solves the business problem, not simply whether the assigned development work was completed. Communicate well. You can work comfortably with engineers, business stakeholders, and senior leaders. Learn quickly. You're capable of entering unfamiliar technologies and environments and becoming productive rapidly. Balance speed and quality. You understand when rapid experimentation is appropriate and when scalability, security, reliability, and maintainability need to drive the design. Why Curate Partners? At Curate Partners, you'll have the opportunity to work directly on challenging technology problems across different organizations and environments. Rather than being separated from the business challenge by layers of requirements and handoffs, you'll work close to the problem and the people experiencing it. For engineers who enjoy figuring out what should be built and then actually building it, Forward Deployment Engineering offers a unique opportunity to combine deep technical work with meaningful business impact.