Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Summary

Catalyst Labs is a specialized talent partner focused on recruiting top-tier engineers across Software, Data, and AI-driven domains. The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) role involves partnering with customers to design, build, and maintain high-impact applications that address complex operational and data challenges.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with customer stakeholders to understand their most critical business objectives and translate them into high-impact technical solutions
• Architect, develop, and maintain applications that operationalize enterprise data and drive measurable business outcomes
• Build end-to-end workflows using large structured and unstructured datasets in production environments
• Iterate rapidly, often building systems from scratch, to help customers transform their operations at exceptional speed
• Collaborate directly with executives, operators, and cross-functional teams to deploy tools that meaningfully improve business processes
• Own projects autonomously taking full responsibility for delivery, implementation, and long-term success
• Embed with customer teams as needed, providing both technical expertise and on-the-ground support
• Travel to client sites as required (typically 10 to 33%) to support implementations and ensure successful adoption
• Work hybrid/on-site at company offices (London, New York, Washington D.C., or Denver) and at customer locations during key phases of deployment

Skills

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
• 1 to 5 years of experience as a fullstack engineer, data engineer, or FDE
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down complex challenges and deliver practical, production-ready solutions
• Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript
• Demonstrated experience building applications that leverage large datasets in real-world production environments
• Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes through codewhether as a software engineer, data scientist, or technical analytics lead
• Ability to work independently and own outcomes end-to-end while also collaborating effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work closely with customers and internal teams
• Willingness to travel for customer implementations (10 to 33% depending on project)
• Enthusiasm for working hybrid-in-person at one of the company's office locations and onsite with customers
• Experience working with Palantir Foundry and/or AIP
• Experience delivering production ML or LLM-based solutions
• Experience building production React frontend applications
• Familiarity with Spark, distributed computing, or large-scale data processing frameworks

Qualifications

Must Haves

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
• 1 to 5 years of experience as a fullstack engineer, data engineer, or FDE
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down complex challenges and deliver practical, production-ready solutions
• Proficiency in Python and/or TypeScript
• Demonstrated experience building applications that leverage large datasets in real-world production environments
• Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes through codewhether as a software engineer, data scientist, or technical analytics lead
• Ability to work independently and own outcomes end-to-end while also collaborating effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work closely with customers and internal teams
• Willingness to travel for customer implementations (10 to 33% depending on project)
• Enthusiasm for working hybrid-in-person at one of the company's office locations and onsite with customers

Nice to Haves

• Experience working with Palantir Foundry and/or AIP
• Experience delivering production ML or LLM-based solutions
• Experience building production React frontend applications
• Familiarity with Spark, distributed computing, or large-scale data processing frameworks