Forward Deployed Engineer

Striim, (pronounced “stream” with two i’s for integration and intelligence), is a unified data integration and streaming platform that connects clouds, data, and applications with unprecedented speed and simplicity to deliver the right data at the right time. Striim is used by enterprise companies to monitor events across any environment, build applications that drive digital transformation, and leverage true real-time analytics to provide a superior experience to their customers. At our company, we believe and expect all of our employees to operate as one with unlimited potential and dignity. 

About the Role

We are seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to report to our Field CTO within the Engineering organization. This is a highly strategic and tactical, customer-facing role that sits at the intersection of customer success and technical excellence. You will partner with enterprise clients across the entire customer lifecycle—from pre-sales discovery and solution architecture through post-sales adoption, retention, expansion, and long-term success.

While customer-facing, this is fundamentally a technical engineering position. You will spend 40-50% of your time writing code, architecting solutions, debugging complex distributed systems, and building production-grade integrations. The remaining time is spent collaborating with customers and internal teams to ensure technical success and business outcomes. You will serve as both a principal-level technical leader and a trusted customer advocate, ensuring our platform delivers measurable business value while shaping the future direction of our product.

You will work closely with Sales & Field Engineering, Product, and Technical Account Management teams to architect and deliver complex, real-time data solutions across modern cloud and AI-driven ecosystems. This role requires up to 50% travel and a strong commitment to building deep, long-lasting customer relationships through consistent engagement.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Implementation

• Lead end-to-end implementation of real-time data pipelines using CDC, Kafka, and related technologies; architect multi-cloud data solutions (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Build custom connectors, integrations, and production-grade systems using Java and Python; architect APIs and data pipelines
• Design and optimize Kubernetes deployments and containerized data workloads for performance, cost, and reliability
• Debug and resolve complex technical issues across distributed systems, including backend, infrastructure, and data layers
• Create reusable Java/Python libraries, frameworks, and solution accelerators to extend impact across customer implementations
• Conduct technical code reviews, architecture assessments, and deep-dive technical sessions with customer engineering teams

Customer Partnership & Solution Architecture

• Serve as the primary technical partner to customers across the full lifecycle, from pre-sales discovery and solution architecture through post-sales adoption, expansion, and renewal
• Partner with Sales and Field Engineering to design and architect complex, enterprise-grade solutions tailored to customer needs
• Build and maintain trusted, long-term relationships with customer stakeholders through ongoing engagement, including on-site meetings and industry events
• Act as the technical point of escalation for customer challenges, ensuring timely resolution and continued success
• Design solutions for performance, scalability, and reliability in production environments at enterprise scale (100GB+/day throughput)

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Product Influence

• Act as the voice of the customer, capturing insights and translating them into clear, actionable product requirements
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to influence roadmap priorities and future feature development
• Translate business needs into highly technical concepts, bridging communication between customers and internal teams
• Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Field Engineering, Product, and Technical Account Management to deliver a seamless and unified customer experience
• Contribute to internal best practices, documentation, and scalable solution frameworks

Requirements

Experience & Background

• 10+ years of experience in customer-facing technical roles (e.g., Solutions Engineer, Solutions Architect, Forward Deployed Engineer, Field Engineer, Cloud Architect, or similar)
• Proven ability to own and deliver across the full customer lifecycle, from pre-sales through post-sales success
• Deep technical expertise with the ability to operate at a senior or principal level, including solution architecture and hands-on implementation

Programming & Development

• Expert-level proficiency in Java and/or Python, with the ability to architect and implement production-grade systems
• Proficiency in at least one language required; proficiency in both highly valued
• Strong experience building distributed systems, APIs, and enterprise integrations
• Hands-on experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes, Helm)

Cloud & Data Ecosystem

• Deep experience with multi-cloud environments: AWS (EC2, Lambda, RDS, S3), GCP (Dataflow, BigQuery), and/or Azure (Synapse, Event Hubs)
• Expertise in real-time data streaming and data integration:
• Change Data Capture (CDC) technologies
• Apache Kafka, Flink, Spark Streaming
• Event-driven architectures
• Strong background with modern data platforms:
• Data warehousing (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Delta Lake, PostgreSQL)
• Kubernetes and distributed systems
• AI/ML frameworks and analytics platforms (e.g., Databricks, Snowflake, Spark)
• Experience optimizing system performance and reliability at scale

Communication & Problem-Solving

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to:
• Translate complex technical concepts into business value for customers
• Convert business needs into clear technical requirements for product teams
• Present technical solutions to both engineering and executive stakeholders
• Strong problem-solving skills and comfort operating in ambiguous, high-impact environments
• Ability to mentor customer engineering teams and share technical expertise

Travel & Commitment

• Willingness and ability to travel up to 50%
• Commitment to building deep, long-lasting customer relationships through consistent engagement

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a high-growth, venture-backed, or startup environment
• Prior success influencing product roadmaps based on direct customer engagement
• Background in data modernization, cloud adoption, and AI enablement platforms
• Demonstrated ability to build executive-level relationships with customer stakeholders
• Experience creating reusable frameworks, accelerators, solution templates, or developer tools
• Open source contributions to data streaming, integration, DevOps, or distributed systems projects
• Published technical writing, blog posts, or speaking engagements on distributed systems, data engineering, or cloud architecture
• Track record of building SDKs, APIs, or developer tools
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)

Technical Impact Areas

In this role, you will work on complex, high-impact technical challenges such as:

• Designing and implementing sub-second latency data pipelines at enterprise scale (100GB+/day throughput)
• Building fault-tolerant, highly available distributed systems across multi-cloud environments
• Optimizing Kubernetes clusters and containerized data workloads for cost and performance
• Creating reusable Java/Python libraries and frameworks to accelerate customer implementations
• Architecting real-time data solutions for digital transformation and AI enablement

Benefits

• Competitive salary and pre-IPO stock options
• Comprehensive health care plans (medical, dental and vision), including medical and dependent FSA
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• The chance to contribute to and shape an upbeat, fully engaged culture
• Work with enterprise customers on transformational technical challenges
• Significant influence on product strategy and roadmap development

Compensation

$205,000 - $220,000 USD on an annualized basis. In addition to base pay, this role offers the opportunity to earn variable-based rewards.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled.

Our company culture fosters entrepreneurship and nurtures our team members to grow with the company. Come join a Silicon Valley startup focused on delivering a product that’s loved by its customers and primed to be a core part of the cloud data stack.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company.It is in our best interest to continue to foster an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion to bring the most value to our workforce, customers, and partners. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status.

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