Guides
Guides to the forward deployed model.
Plain-language references for engineers, hiring teams, students, journalists and buyers. Each guide is dated, cites its sources and says where it is unsure. New to the term? Start with the first guide.
What is a forward deployed engineer?
A plain-English guide to the forward deployed engineer: its origin, the work, how it differs from similar roles, who hires for it and the skills it takes.
Read the guideForward Deployed Engineer Hiring Index
Free weekly data on forward deployed engineer jobs: 779 open roles by country, metro, seniority, skills and posted pay. CSV and JSON, CC BY 4.0.
Open the datasetForward deployed engineer interview guide
How forward deployed engineer interviews tend to run: the stages, the kinds of questions, a practical preparation routine and how to show deployment judgment.
Read the guideForward deployed vs consulting, software and managed services
How the forward deployed model compares with consulting, packaged software and managed services: what each is, where each strains and how to choose.
Read the guideForward deployed glossary
Plain definitions of forward deployed terms: FDE, embedded engineer, deployment strategist, solutions architect, pilot, rollout, champion, handover and more.
Open the glossaryHow we write them
Careful, dated and open to correction.
These guides are written to be checked and cited. We state what is established, hedge what is disputed and leave out what we cannot support.
- Sourced. Every guide ends with its sources, linked to the original or to a reputable reference.
- No invented numbers. No salaries, pass rates or counts that we cannot trace to a source.
- Names kept out. We describe companies and methods by what they did, not by who sold them.
- Dated. Each guide shows when it was published and last updated.
- Open to correction. Spot a mistake? Email support@forwardeployed.work.
- Free to cite. Each guide has a ready-made attribution to copy.