Forward Deployed Engineer

Role & Responsibilities

Own the Client’s Outcome:

• Embed with enterprise customers – on-site and remotely – to understand their supply chain operations, data estate, and what success actually looks like for their business.
• Scope and design technical solutions for messy, real-world logistics problems – with a clear line to measurable impact: cost per delivery, SLA performance, empty kilometres.
• Own the full deployment lifecycle: architecture through go-live through steady-state. You’re accountable for the outcome, not just the code.

Build and Ship:

• Design, build, and maintain backend services in Node.js or Python that power routing, planning, and execution at enterprise scale.
• Build and own the integrations connecting Locus to client ERPs, TMS, WMS, and OMS platforms – these integrations are often the riskiest part of a deployment.
• Write production code that runs under real load. If it isn’t in production, it hasn’t shipped.

Be the Technical Interface with the Client:

• Run architecture reviews, lead integration workshops, and represent Locus in executive steering meetings. You need to be credible at every level of the client organisation.
• Bring field learnings back into the product and platform teams. Some of Locus’s best features started as a client workaround.
• Push back when a client request would compromise platform integrity – and propose a better alternative.

Show Up On-Site:

• Travel to client sites – domestic and international, up to ~30% of the time – for kick-offs, integration sprints, go-lives, and post-live reviews.
• Build the kind of relationship where the client’s ops lead calls you directly when something goes wrong at 2am, not a support ticket.
• Be comfortable wherever the work is: a warehouse floor, a logistics control tower, a C-suite boardroom.

Make the Next Deployment Easier:

• Document architecture decisions, integration patterns, and deployment playbooks – every engagement should make the next one faster.
• Work closely with Product, Customer Success, and Platform Engineering. Share what you’re seeing in the field; don’t wait to be asked.
• Mentor junior FDEs and raise the technical bar across the team.

Ideal Candidate

• Strong Forward Deployed / Field Engineer
• Mandatory (Experience 1): Must have 5+ years of backend engineering experience with hands-on coding in Node.js or Python, building production-grade systems
• Mandatory (Experience 2): Must have minimum 2+ years in client-facing / deployment-heavy roles, where they worked directly with enterprise customers
• Mandatory (Experience 3): Must have experience shipping and owning production systems end-to-end: From design → build → deployment → post-production support
• Mandatory (Tech Skills 1 - Backend & Systems): Strong in: Node.js or Python (must-have), Building scalable backend services
• Mandatory (Tech Skills 2 - Integrations): Must have experience with: Enterprise integrations (APIs, third-party systems), Systems like ERP / TMS / WMS / OMS
• Mandatory (Tech Skills 3 - Data & Messaging): Hands-on with: Relational + NoSQL databases, Event streaming / queues (Kafka / RabbitMQ or similar)
• Mandatory (Tech Skills 4 - Cloud & Deployment): Experience with: Cloud platforms (AWS / GCP / Azure), Docker + Kubernetes (or containerised deployments)
• Mandatory (Company): Top Product companies / Startups / SaaS / platform companies