[Hiring] Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering @Invoca

Role Description

We're looking for a Founding Head of Forward Deployed Engineering (Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering) to build and lead the team of engineers embedded in our Go-to-Market motion. You'll own the function that turns technical credibility into closed deals and successful onboardings — hiring and coaching FDEs, prioritizing which deals and accounts get engineering muscle, and being the escalation point when a deal or implementation needs more than an individual contributor can carry alone.

This is a player-coach role early on and a full people-management role as the team scales. You'll be judged as much on pipeline influence and customer outcomes as on team health and growth.

What You'll Do

• Hire, coach, and manage a team of Forward Deployed Engineers; set the bar for what "great" looks like in a customer-facing technical role
• Triage and prioritize FDE deployment across the deal pipeline — deciding which opportunities and accounts warrant dedicated technical support, and when
• Act as the senior technical escalation point on strategic or at-risk deals and implementations, stepping in personally when the stakes are highest
• Partner with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success leadership to define where FDEs plug into the sales and onboarding motion, and where the handoffs are
• Build the operating rhythm for the team: how PoCs get scoped, how wins and losses get debriefed, how reusable assets get captured and shared instead of rebuilt every time
• Own the feedback loop from field to product — aggregate what your team is hearing across dozens of deals into a small number of sharp, prioritized asks for product and engineering leadership
• Report on team impact in terms the business cares about: deals influenced, time-to-value for new customers, win rates on technically contested deals
• Manage headcount planning and capacity — knowing when the team needs to grow, and where geographically or by specialization

Qualifications

• Prior experience as a Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or similar customer-facing technical role — you've done the job you're now managing
• People management experience, or clear evidence of leadership in a technical, customer-facing capacity (leading projects, mentoring, informal team leadership)
• Strong business judgment — you can tell the difference between a deal worth throwing engineering time at and one that isn't, often with incomplete information
• Comfort operating at the intersection of Sales, Product, and Engineering, including comfort saying no to stakeholders in any of those functions when priorities conflict
• Track record of turning messy, one-off customer work into repeatable process and reusable assets
• Excellent executive communication — you'll regularly represent this function's impact to sales and company leadership

What Success Looks Like

• Your team is the reason technically contested deals get won, and everyone in Sales knows it
• New customers reach value faster because onboarding is repeatable, not reinvented every time
• Product roadmap decisions visibly reflect patterns your team surfaced from the field
• FDEs on your team are growing — into senior ICs, into product, into GTM leadership — and people want to join the team

Compensation, Benefits & Perks

• Base Salary: $200,000-275,000*
• Variable Compensation: Bonus and/or commission eligibility, where applicable.
• Equity: All employees are invited to share in Invoca's success through our stock option program.
• Day-One Health Benefits – Medical, dental, and vision coverage begins on your first day of employment for U.S.-based teammates.
• Mental Wellbeing – Access to mental wellbeing support and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Wellness Subsidy – Reimbursement that can be applied toward gym memberships, fitness classes, and more.
• Flexible Time Off – We encourage a healthy work-life balance. Our flexible paid time off policy gives you the flexibility to recharge and take time away when you need it.
• Paid Holidays – Invoca provides 20 U.S. paid holidays, including a winter break, giving you time to rest, recharge, and spend time with friends and family.
• Paid Family Leave – Up to 12 weeks of 100% paid leave for baby bonding, adoption, and caring for family members.*
• Paid Medical Leave – Up to 12 weeks of 100% paid leave for childbirth and medical needs.*
• Enterprise-Grade AI Tools – Access to industry-leading enterprise AI tools, including leading LLMs and agentic AI workflow solutions to help you maximize productivity and work more effectively.
• Professional Development – Annual reimbursement of up to $1,000 per fiscal year to support learning, certifications, conferences, and other professional development opportunities.
• 401(k) – Invoca offers a 401(k) plan through Fidelity with a company match of up to 4%.*
• Recognition Programs – We celebrate great work through company-wide and team recognition programs, including President's Club and quarterly and departmental awards recognizing innovation, execution, and customer impact.
• InVacation (Sabbatical) – As a thank-you to our long-term team members, we offer a sabbatical after seven years of service.