Global public FDE job descriptions

Based on the study of 519 public ATS job descriptions cited in the article. Checked on 2026-09-20.

519FDE-family JD
57Employers
98.3%of genuine FDE roles require production coding
5 yearsMedian minimum experience requirement
AI / ML
84.4%
Python
70.7%
Data / pipelines
50.7%
TypeScript / JS
38.7%
Go
27.6%
SQL
22.9%
Security / regulatory
17.7%
188
Roles explicitly titled FDE
36.2% of the 519 samples
331
Use related titles
Including Solutions, FDSE, Deployment, Applied AI, and others

Searching only for FDE misses many similar roles.

71.9%
of roles explicitly titled FDE or FDSE pass the basic criteria
Production coding + embedded customer work + no sales quota
60.4%
pass when reporting to Engineering or Product is also required
Indicates substantial title inflation

Genuine FDE is a researcher-assigned classification based on fixed criteria, not an expert review of each listing.

Source: State of Forward-Deployed Engineering 2026 and its methodology. The sample favors US, AI-native, and venture-backed companies. It is not a census of the global job market.