Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
Quick facts
- Pay
- $150,000–$300,000 base salary, $220,000–$320,000 total compensation including equity
- Type
- Full-time
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Experience
- 3–6 years
- Skills
- Python
- Industry
- Information Technology — 663 open jobs
- Visa in listing
- H-1B, OPT
- Apply
- Free to apply — never pay anyone for a job offer or visa sponsorship
Job description
About the Role
Coding Brains is hiring for one of its clients based in San Francisco for a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) role, focused on AI-powered solutions and enterprise customer deployments.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with sales and solutions teams on technical evaluations, custom demos, and competitive evaluations.
- Own technical implementation and post-deployment success for enterprise customers.
- Build custom applications, AI agents, evaluation tools, and integrations to solve customer problems.
- Work directly with customers to understand requirements, troubleshoot technical challenges, and improve product adoption.
- Develop diagnostics, dashboards, and evaluation frameworks to measure system performance.
- Build and improve AI-powered workflows using LLMs and related technologies.
- Partner with product and engineering teams to communicate customer feedback and influence product direction.
- Support technical discussions with enterprise stakeholders and help identify opportunities to improve customer outcomes.
Required Qualifications
- 3–6 years of experience in full-stack engineering, backend-leaning product engineering, or a Forward Deployed Engineer role.
- Strong hands-on Python programming skills.
- Experience at a high-growth, high-performing startup that has shipped production software for enterprise customers.
- Practical knowledge of AI/LLM concepts and experience using AI coding tools effectively.
- Ability to independently build, debug, and deploy software.
- Confidence communicating with customers and discussing technical requirements.
- Strong ownership, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience building and evaluating production AI/LLM applications.
- Familiarity with evaluation frameworks, diagnostics, and performance monitoring.
- Experience with Streamlit, Bash, OCR, document parsing, vision-language models, and REST APIs.
- Experience in early-stage startups or founding teams.
- Background in customer-facing engineering or enterprise technical deployments.
- Ability to combine hands-on coding with customer communication and technical problem-solving.
Technical Stack
Python, Bash, Streamlit, OCR, LLMs, Vision-Language Models, REST APIs, Document Parsing, AI/ML Tooling, and Evaluation Frameworks.
Work Location
This is a full-time, on-site position in San Francisco, California, requiring five days per week in the office. Candidates must already be able to work on-site or be genuinely willing to relocate.
Compensation and Visa Support
Total compensation: $220,000–$320,000, including equity.
Base salary: $150,000–$300,000, plus equity. Final compensation depends on experience and the offer structure.
OPT candidates, H-1B transfers, and visa sponsorship are available, subject to applicable eligibility and hiring requirements.
Application
Please submit your resume and describe a production software or AI solution you personally built and deployed. Include your role, the technical challenges you solved, the customer impact, and your experience working directly with enterprise customers.
Visa sponsorship record
No public sponsorship records foundWe didn't find H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 or green card (PERM) filings under the name CodingBrains Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd in the Department of Labor and USCIS data. That doesn't mean the job can't be sponsored — the company may file under a different legal name, be new to sponsorship, or sponsor a visa that isn't in these datasets (for example H-2B or J-1).
Tip: ask the recruiter early, in writing, which visa they sponsor and whether they cover the legal and filing fees.
Which visas can work for this job
Occupation: Software Developers (SOC 15-1252).
- Mentioned in the listing
H-1B, OPT
- H-1B cap-exempt employer
Regular cap-subject employer — a new H-1B needs to win the lottery in March (unless you already hold cap-counted H-1B status).
- TN (citizens of Canada and Mexico)
This kind of role may fit the USMCA profession “Computer Systems Analyst (or Engineer, for engineering-degree holders)” — it depends on the actual duties. No lottery, no cap; you need the matching degree or license.
- E-3 (Australia) and H-1B1 (Chile, Singapore)
Same degree requirement as H-1B, but no lottery and a separate quota that is rarely filled.
- O-1 (extraordinary ability)
For candidates with awards, publications, press, a high salary or critical roles at distinguished organizations. No cap, no lottery; the employer files a petition.
- STEM OPT extension (F-1 students)
Requires an E-Verify employer. We didn't find this company in the E-Verify list — ask HR.
Salary vs prevailing wage
Level I (entry)Software Developers · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Annual prevailing wages set by the Department of Labor (OFLC).
| Level | Prevailing wage | H-1B lottery odds* |
|---|---|---|
| Level I | $137,093 | ~15% |
| Level II | $165,131 | ~31% |
| Level III | $193,149 | ~46% |
| Level IV | $221,187 | ~61% |
This job pays $150,000–$300,000 a year — that's Level I (entry). In the wage-weighted H-1B lottery a Level I registration gets 1 entry; estimated selection chance about 15% — below average.
* Odds are DHS projections for the FY2027 wage-weighted lottery (actual results vary by year and employer). Since the FY2027 cap season the H-1B lottery is weighted by wage level: Level I = 1 entry, II = 2, III = 3, IV = 4. The level is set by the offered wage against the prevailing wage for the occupation and worksite. Separately, a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions for workers outside the US was announced in 2025; as of September 2026 a federal court ruling keeps it unenforceable while appeals continue — check the current status.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor OFLC disclosure data (H-1B/H-1B1/E-3 LCA, PERM), OFLC prevailing wage data, USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, E-Verify participating employers. Data loaded: LCA FY2024–FY2026, PERM, USCIS Data Hub, OFLC wages; updated 2026-10-03. Employers are matched by name, so records of companies with similar names can occasionally be mixed up. This is general information, not legal advice — talk to an immigration attorney about your case.