Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

About the role

We're hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead AI deployments at consumer brands and solve the data and business problems they've never been able to crack. You think like a CPG operator and a product person, and you build with AI every day. As an FDE, you walk into a brand as the lead for its AI deployment and solve a problem it has never been able to solve. You own a set of brands from kickoff until their team runs real work in Drivepoint without us. Depending on the customer, you may stay on as their partner through the year: new problems, new workflows, renewal and expansion. You report to our Head of Product and work hybrid in New York City.

Responsibilities

• Solve the hard data problems: reconcile Shopify orders with books, deduplicate channel data, harmonize retailer files, unify SKU naming.
• Crack business problems they've never answered: assess retailer profitability after trade spend, forecast wholesale close from open POs, locate cash stuck in inventory.
• Lead the engagement: set agendas, clarify decisions, close with owners and dates, drive plan to execution.
• Set up the foundation: connect Shopify, Amazon, TikTok Shop, retailers, 3PLs, ad platforms and the books; capture account mappings, SKU conventions and naming.
• Put AI to work: tailor workflows from our library to the brand and schedule them to run in our app, Claude or ChatGPT, or custom tools with proper permissions.
• Steer implementation partners: brief on custom builds, keep on schedule, verify work before customer sees it.
• Turn field work into product: build repeatable fixes into reusable workflows with Claude Code and bring evidence to product team.

Requirements

You know how a whole consumer brand works: channel economics, retail vs. DTC, trade spend, weeks of supply, CAC and retention, landed cost. You can talk to founders, ops leads and growth marketers in their own terms. You think like a product person: start from user problem and outcome, discern when the ask isn’t the need, spot patterns across customers. You’re consultative: set agendas, ask clarifying questions, turn messy conversation into crisp scope. You build with AI: use Claude Code or similar tools to build workflows, skills or agents that others actually use; you’re comfortable with MCP, connectors and permissions. You’re technically enough: understand data flow from Shopify to warehouse to report, can read SQL, and can diagnose mismatched numbers. You’re great with customers: comfortable leading sessions with founders and execs; clear, warm, direct writing. You keep many things moving: manage several brands and partners simultaneously without dropped threads. You’re financially literate: can read a P&L and spot a forecast that doesn’t make sense.

Qualifications

Nice to have: founded, launched or run a consumer brand; consulting, agency or implementation background; SQL or BigQuery experience; hands‑on with Shopify, Amazon, retailer, 3PL or ad platform data; built an internal tool or app for a team.

Benefits

Standard benefits package.

Pay

Base salary: $140K–$175K per year.

Schedule

Hybrid in New York City; customer work is remote, no travel required.