{
  "name": "Forward Deployed Engineer Hiring Index",
  "schema_version": 1,
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": "Forward Deployed",
  "page": "https://forwardeployed.work/guides/forward-deployed-engineer-hiring-index",
  "as_of": "2026-10-06",
  "coverage": {
    "boards_tracked": 86,
    "boards_reachable": 86,
    "boards_with_open_roles": 85,
    "open_roles": 779,
    "roles_with_posted_pay": 241,
    "share_with_posted_pay": 0.309,
    "roles_with_posted_date": 779,
    "roles_with_stated_mode": 497,
    "share_senior_or_above": 0.334,
    "largest_board_share": 0.158,
    "top_five_boards_share": 0.395,
    "median_age_days": 92
  },
  "suppression": {
    "min_postings": 10,
    "min_pay_ranges": 5,
    "min_pay_employers": 3,
    "rule": "No group of fewer than 10 postings is published; small groups are folded into an Other row. No pay group of fewer than 5 posted ranges from at least 3 employers is published."
  },
  "tables": {
    "countries": [
      {
        "label": "United States",
        "roles": 424,
        "share": 0.544
      },
      {
        "label": "United Kingdom",
        "roles": 67,
        "share": 0.086
      },
      {
        "label": "Germany",
        "roles": 29,
        "share": 0.037
      },
      {
        "label": "India",
        "roles": 24,
        "share": 0.031
      },
      {
        "label": "Not stated",
        "roles": 20,
        "share": 0.026
      },
      {
        "label": "Singapore",
        "roles": 20,
        "share": 0.026
      },
      {
        "label": "Japan",
        "roles": 17,
        "share": 0.022
      },
      {
        "label": "South Korea",
        "roles": 16,
        "share": 0.021
      },
      {
        "label": "Spain",
        "roles": 16,
        "share": 0.021
      },
      {
        "label": "Canada",
        "roles": 14,
        "share": 0.018
      },
      {
        "label": "France",
        "roles": 14,
        "share": 0.018
      },
      {
        "label": "Australia",
        "roles": 13,
        "share": 0.017
      },
      {
        "label": "United Arab Emirates",
        "roles": 12,
        "share": 0.015
      },
      {
        "label": "Mexico",
        "roles": 10,
        "share": 0.013
      },
      {
        "label": "Other countries",
        "roles": 83,
        "share": 0.107
      }
    ],
    "metros": [
      {
        "label": "New York City area",
        "roles": 94,
        "share": 0.121
      },
      {
        "label": "San Francisco Bay Area",
        "roles": 82,
        "share": 0.105
      },
      {
        "label": "London",
        "roles": 60,
        "share": 0.077
      },
      {
        "label": "Washington, DC area",
        "roles": 56,
        "share": 0.072
      },
      {
        "label": "Singapore",
        "roles": 20,
        "share": 0.026
      },
      {
        "label": "Berlin",
        "roles": 16,
        "share": 0.021
      },
      {
        "label": "Tokyo",
        "roles": 16,
        "share": 0.021
      },
      {
        "label": "Seoul",
        "roles": 14,
        "share": 0.018
      },
      {
        "label": "Austin",
        "roles": 13,
        "share": 0.017
      },
      {
        "label": "Chicago",
        "roles": 12,
        "share": 0.015
      },
      {
        "label": "Munich",
        "roles": 12,
        "share": 0.015
      },
      {
        "label": "Paris",
        "roles": 12,
        "share": 0.015
      },
      {
        "label": "Seattle area",
        "roles": 12,
        "share": 0.015
      },
      {
        "label": "Madrid",
        "roles": 10,
        "share": 0.013
      },
      {
        "label": "Other places or not stated",
        "roles": 350,
        "share": 0.449
      }
    ],
    "work_mode": [
      {
        "label": "Hybrid",
        "roles": 192,
        "share": 0.246
      },
      {
        "label": "On-site",
        "roles": 173,
        "share": 0.222
      },
      {
        "label": "Remote",
        "roles": 132,
        "share": 0.169
      },
      {
        "label": "Not stated (or too few to show)",
        "roles": 282,
        "share": 0.362
      }
    ],
    "seniority": [
      {
        "label": "Intern or co-op",
        "roles": 25,
        "share": 0.032
      },
      {
        "label": "Junior or early career",
        "roles": 25,
        "share": 0.032
      },
      {
        "label": "Mid-level (no level in the title)",
        "roles": 469,
        "share": 0.602
      },
      {
        "label": "Senior",
        "roles": 158,
        "share": 0.203
      },
      {
        "label": "Staff or principal",
        "roles": 20,
        "share": 0.026
      },
      {
        "label": "Lead",
        "roles": 21,
        "share": 0.027
      },
      {
        "label": "Manager, director or head",
        "roles": 61,
        "share": 0.078
      }
    ],
    "skills": [
      {
        "label": "Customer-facing work",
        "roles": 555,
        "share": 0.712
      },
      {
        "label": "Python",
        "roles": 553,
        "share": 0.71
      },
      {
        "label": "Travel expected",
        "roles": 410,
        "share": 0.526
      },
      {
        "label": "APIs and integrations",
        "roles": 379,
        "share": 0.487
      },
      {
        "label": "LLMs",
        "roles": 330,
        "share": 0.424
      },
      {
        "label": "Machine learning",
        "roles": 279,
        "share": 0.358
      },
      {
        "label": "JavaScript",
        "roles": 265,
        "share": 0.34
      },
      {
        "label": "TypeScript",
        "roles": 265,
        "share": 0.34
      },
      {
        "label": "Public cloud",
        "roles": 245,
        "share": 0.315
      },
      {
        "label": "Data pipelines",
        "roles": 230,
        "share": 0.295
      },
      {
        "label": "SQL",
        "roles": 173,
        "share": 0.222
      },
      {
        "label": "Security clearance",
        "roles": 132,
        "share": 0.169
      },
      {
        "label": "RAG",
        "roles": 112,
        "share": 0.144
      },
      {
        "label": "Java",
        "roles": 110,
        "share": 0.141
      },
      {
        "label": "Kubernetes",
        "roles": 98,
        "share": 0.126
      },
      {
        "label": "C++",
        "roles": 95,
        "share": 0.122
      },
      {
        "label": "Rust",
        "roles": 42,
        "share": 0.054
      }
    ],
    "posted_age": [
      {
        "label": "Up to 30 days",
        "from_days": 0,
        "to_days": 30,
        "roles": 179,
        "share": 0.23
      },
      {
        "label": "31 to 90 days",
        "from_days": 31,
        "to_days": 90,
        "roles": 207,
        "share": 0.266
      },
      {
        "label": "91 to 180 days",
        "from_days": 91,
        "to_days": 180,
        "roles": 166,
        "share": 0.213
      },
      {
        "label": "181 days or more",
        "from_days": 181,
        "to_days": null,
        "roles": 227,
        "share": 0.291
      }
    ]
  },
  "pay": {
    "period": "year",
    "note": "Posted base pay for the postings that publish a range, per currency. Currencies are never converted or blended. Medians count each employer once.",
    "by_currency": [
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "ranges": 222,
        "employers": 43,
        "median_min": 160000,
        "median_max": 230000,
        "median_midpoint": 198000,
        "p25_midpoint": 165000,
        "p75_midpoint": 243000
      },
      {
        "currency": "GBP",
        "ranges": 7,
        "employers": 5,
        "median_min": 124000,
        "median_max": 225000,
        "median_midpoint": 174000,
        "p25_midpoint": 138000,
        "p75_midpoint": 225000
      }
    ],
    "by_seniority": [
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Mid-level (no level in the title)",
        "ranges": 101,
        "employers": 38,
        "median_min": 153000,
        "median_max": 200000,
        "median_midpoint": 177000,
        "p25_midpoint": 162000,
        "p75_midpoint": 225000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Senior",
        "ranges": 80,
        "employers": 11,
        "median_min": 175000,
        "median_max": 246000,
        "median_midpoint": 216000,
        "p25_midpoint": 180000,
        "p75_midpoint": 230000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Manager, director or head",
        "ranges": 25,
        "employers": 12,
        "median_min": 240000,
        "median_max": 300000,
        "median_midpoint": 270000,
        "p25_midpoint": 240000,
        "p75_midpoint": 325000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Staff or principal",
        "ranges": 7,
        "employers": 7,
        "median_min": 200000,
        "median_max": 250000,
        "median_midpoint": 225000,
        "p25_midpoint": 215000,
        "p75_midpoint": 274000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Other levels (too few to show)",
        "ranges": 9,
        "employers": 9,
        "median_min": 180000,
        "median_max": 220000,
        "median_midpoint": 200000,
        "p25_midpoint": 142000,
        "p75_midpoint": 232000
      },
      {
        "currency": "GBP",
        "group": "Other levels (too few to show)",
        "ranges": 7,
        "employers": 5,
        "median_min": 124000,
        "median_max": 225000,
        "median_midpoint": 174000,
        "p25_midpoint": 138000,
        "p75_midpoint": 225000
      }
    ],
    "by_metro": [
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "San Francisco Bay Area",
        "ranges": 48,
        "employers": 22,
        "median_min": 171000,
        "median_max": 250000,
        "median_midpoint": 215000,
        "p25_midpoint": 170000,
        "p75_midpoint": 259000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "New York City area",
        "ranges": 44,
        "employers": 18,
        "median_min": 182000,
        "median_max": 250000,
        "median_midpoint": 221000,
        "p25_midpoint": 175000,
        "p75_midpoint": 259000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Washington, DC area",
        "ranges": 20,
        "employers": 7,
        "median_min": 179000,
        "median_max": 248000,
        "median_midpoint": 213000,
        "p25_midpoint": 166000,
        "p75_midpoint": 249000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Seattle area",
        "ranges": 10,
        "employers": 3,
        "median_min": 182000,
        "median_max": 250000,
        "median_midpoint": 216000,
        "p25_midpoint": 167000,
        "p75_midpoint": 240000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Los Angeles area",
        "ranges": 8,
        "employers": 5,
        "median_min": 150000,
        "median_max": 190000,
        "median_midpoint": 170000,
        "p25_midpoint": 146000,
        "p75_midpoint": 219000
      },
      {
        "currency": "USD",
        "group": "Other places or not stated",
        "ranges": 92,
        "employers": 20,
        "median_min": 152000,
        "median_max": 220000,
        "median_midpoint": 181000,
        "p25_midpoint": 167000,
        "p75_midpoint": 216000
      },
      {
        "currency": "GBP",
        "group": "Other places or not stated",
        "ranges": 7,
        "employers": 5,
        "median_min": 124000,
        "median_max": 225000,
        "median_midpoint": 174000,
        "p25_midpoint": 138000,
        "p75_midpoint": 225000
      }
    ]
  },
  "history": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-06",
      "open_roles": 779,
      "boards_with_roles": 85
    }
  ]
}