Director, Forward Deployed Engineering & Technical Support

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale both the FDE and Technical Support teams, defining engagement models, operating standards, headcount plans, and career development frameworks for each function
• Own the FDE engagement lifecycle: technical discovery, environment assessment, solution architecture, PoC validation, and deployment guidance. Engage Sales at the right moments and ensure FDE coverage goes to the customers where it drives the most value
• Set the standard for how FDEs operate: trusted advisors first, hands-on contributors where the situation calls for it, working through and alongside Product Engineering rather than as an independent delivery team
• Own the field feedback loop by synthesizing patterns from FDE engagements and support escalations into clear, prioritized product input that directly shapes Runpod's roadmap
• Drive Technical Support across all tiers (Tier 1–3) with defined SLA/SLO frameworks, CSAT and TTR targets, escalation paths, and a developer-first knowledge base that scales self-service and reduces inbound volume
• Drive operational discipline across the stack: Zendesk for support operations, HubSpot for customer health, Linear for engineering escalations, and Notion for internal knowledge and FDE documentation
• Partner with Sales, Account Management, Product, and Engineering on pre-sales strategy, QBRs, escalations, and roadmap alignment. This role is a cross-functional connector, not a siloed function

Requirements

• 10+ years in technical customer-facing roles: solutions engineering, field engineering, or a hybrid FDE function, with at least 4 years leading a team in a high-growth cloud infrastructure, SaaS, or AI/ML company
• Deep technical fluency in GPU compute and AI/ML infrastructure; hands-on coding ability (Python, Docker/Kubernetes) is expected. This leader should be able to do the work, not just manage it
• Demonstrated experience building or leading a technical engagement function that spans pre- and post-sales, with clear ownership of solution architecture and customer technical outcomes
• Proven ability to build and run tiered support organizations: SLA/SLO frameworks, on-call structures, escalation paths, and the tooling and process to operate them at scale
• Strong systems-builder instinct, comfortable creating structure where little exists: playbooks, triage frameworks, onboarding programs, and knowledge base architecture
• Proficiency with Zendesk, HubSpot, Linear, and Notion; comfort using AI tools (Claude, Gemini, GPT) to accelerate documentation and triage at scale
• Exceptional communicator across audiences. Equally at home in a technical architecture discussion with a customer's ML team and translating field observations into product priorities for Engineering leadership