There are three ways to hire a forward deployed engineer (FDE): employ one directly, contract an independent engineer, or take a monthly placement through a provider. Choose by how long you’ll need the person, how soon you need them, and who should handle the paperwork. Whichever route you take, test the same three things: can they ship production code, can they work with users, and can they work out what to build without a spec.
If you’re still working out what the role is, read what a forward deployed engineer is first.
Write down the job first
Founders often ask for an FDE when they need something else. Tiffany Siu, First Round Review’s head of talent, suggests answering these before you start: what triggered the opening, who does the work today, what happens if you hire no one, what the person’s day looks like, and how you’ll measure success. If you can’t answer them, read when you need a forward deployed engineer before spending money on a search.
The three routes compared
| Direct hire | Independent contractor | Monthly placement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to start | Paraform budgets 8 to 12 weeks for the search, before any notice period | Varies. Depends on your network and who is free | Varies by provider. Ask how long until the engineer starts, not just until you see profiles |
| Commitment | Permanent, with the cost and awkwardness of ending it | Set by the contract | Monthly, subject to the provider’s notice terms |
| Who handles contracts, pay and tax | You | You and the contractor | Usually the provider |
| Who replaces a bad fit | You, with a new search, unless a recruiter guarantee applies | You | Often the provider. Check the terms |
| Who directs the work | You | You | You, in most placements. Some providers run the work themselves |
| Fits best | The role is central for years | You know the person, or the work is short | You want to start sooner and can direct the work |
For the money, see forward deployed engineer cost.
Direct hire
This gives you the deepest commitment and keeps what the person learns inside your company. It’s the right call if being close to users will stay central to how you build.
It’s also slow. Paraform, a recruiting company, budgets 8 to 12 weeks for a full search and says most FDEs aren’t on job boards, so someone has to approach people directly. A.Team puts a permanent FDE hire at 6 to 9 months to start. A.Team sells an alternative to hiring, so treat that as the top of the range. The two figures probably measure different stretches of the process, and neither is neutral data.
Recruiters are one way to speed it up. Paraform charges 25% of first-year base salary, paid on success, with a 90-day replacement search.
Independent contractor
This is the most flexible route and often the quickest if you already know someone good. It’s harder if you don’t, because you have to find and assess the person yourself, and strong independents are often busy.
You also take on the admin: contract terms, tax treatment and, if the person is in another country, local rules. Take local advice before you sign. Make sure the contract says who owns the code.
Monthly placement
A provider finds the engineer, and you pay a monthly rate. These vary more than the label suggests, so ask what you’re buying. Some providers run the work under their own lead and charge for an outcome. Others place an engineer who takes direction from you, which puts this route close to staff augmentation in contract terms. Forward deployed engineer vs staff augmentation explains the difference.
Questions to ask any provider:
- Who directs the engineer day to day, and who owns the result?
- How does the provider screen for FDE skills, as opposed to general engineering?
- Does a speed promise cover sharing profiles or the engineer starting?
- Can you leave during a trial, and what does that cost?
- What happens if the engineer doesn’t fit?
- Who owns the code and other work produced?
- What’s the notice period?
- What overlap with your working hours is guaranteed?
What to test for
The same skills matter on every route. Don’t lower the bar because a contract is short.
Production engineering
The FDE is still an engineer. Siu says Palantir FDEs passed the same interview loops as its software engineers, and First Round’s advice is not to skip the coding test. Ask candidates to do what the job requires. Paraform suggests a practical task that involves cleaning messy data and wiring up an integration. It also suggests a system design question with real constraints such as a legacy database.
Working out what to build
Hand over an underspecified problem and watch what they ask. Shilpa Balaji, a former Palantir FDE, told First Round that one Palantir scenario asked candidates to design a way of detecting insider trading, covering the data, the questions for the customer and the reasoning behind each choice. A good candidate asks about the user and the goal before reaching for a technical answer.
Working with users
Paraform calls customer empathy and comfort with ambiguity the hardest traits to screen for, and says they deserve the most attention. It treats it as a good sign when candidates describe past work by what it did for the customer, and a warning sign when they’d prefer to just focus on the code.
A useful exercise is to put them on a real user call, or role-play one with someone who knows your users. Afterward, ask them what they’d build first and why.
Drive and product sense
First Round’s interviewees mention grit, a compulsion to build things, and curiosity about how a business works. Jake Stauch of Serval looks for something like a founder’s mindset, partly because FDEs without product sense build features that help only one customer. Ask for things they’ve built without being asked.
Seniority
Sources disagree here. Balaji says Palantir hired many recent graduates and was wary of long careers at large tech companies. Paraform treats posting the role as junior or mid-level as a warning sign. Our view is that Palantir could afford to train people, and most startups can’t. If there’s no one to teach them, hire someone who has already done it.
Remote skills
If the engineer won’t be on-site, check that they can run a call with a user, write clearly and show progress without being asked. Our guide to what a forward deployed engineer is covers how to stay close to users remotely.
Common mistakes
- Running your standard engineering interview. Paraform warns against this. It finds coders and misses the rest of the job.
- Hiring a consultant who can’t code. Paraform lists this as a warning sign too. Good advice doesn’t ship.
- Hiring a strong engineer who dislikes users. They’ll drift back to the backlog.
- Giving no access. The first week shouldn’t be spent waiting for credentials or introductions.
If you can’t assess code yourself
A non-technical founder can still hire well, using a few adjustments:
- Borrow an expert for the technical round. A trusted technical adviser or a friend who’s a CTO can run the coding task and give you a yes or no.
- Run the user exercise yourself. You’re well placed to judge this part.
- Use a short trial on real work. Give them a real problem and access to real users, then look at three things after two weeks: did they talk to users without being pushed, did something reach production, and can they explain their decisions in plain language?
- Ask what happens if it goes wrong. Without technical review, your safety net is your ability to leave or replace the person, so check the terms.
How epicX fits
epicX is one monthly placement option. You’ll see profiles in about a week, though that doesn’t cover when an engineer can start, and a founder takes every first call. There’s a 2-week trial where you can leave and pay nothing, and epicX replaces an engineer who doesn’t fit. epicX handles contracts, payroll and compliance, meaning the engineer’s contract, salary payments, and local tax and employment rules in their country. You direct the engineer and own the result, and epicX doesn’t review the work. If that fits, start by talking through a forward deployed engineer placement.