Forward Deployed Engineer
Posted 4 days ago
The role in short
Embed with strategic customers to write production-grade code, customize AI/edge technology integrations, and scale solutions within their infrastructure.
About Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) is a global semiconductor leader that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. ADI combines analog, digital, AI, and software technologies into solutions that combat climate change, reliably connect humans and the world, and help drive advancements in automation and robotics, mobility, healthcare, energy and data centers. With revenue of more than $11 billion in FY25, ADI ensures today's innovators stay Ahead of What's Possible. Learn more at www.analog.com and on LinkedIn and X.
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
Analog Devices | Customer-embedded, AI/SW-centric applications engineering
Role overview
A hybrid software engineer and technical consultant who embeds within a strategic customer to implement, customize, and scale ADI's AI and edge technology into their real-world infrastructure.
Key responsibilities
- Write production-grade code: custom data pipelines, API integrations, and MLOps/AI workflows
- Embed on-site with clients, partnering across CSG, VBU, SDP, and Edge AI teams
- Frame customer problems and own the architecture that solves them
- Drive rapid iteration and field learning to deliver measurable customer outcomes
- Produce reusable, ADI-owned assets that create defensible wedges
Required qualifications
- BS/MS in CS, EE, or related; 10+ years building production software
- Strong Python plus experience with data pipelines, APIs, and MLOps/AI workflows
- Comfort deploying and debugging on-site in complex enterprise environments
- Excellent communication; able to translate customer needs into architecture
- Willingness to travel and embed with strategic clients
Preferred
Edge AI, LLM/agentic systems, or signal-processing background
Prior forward-deployed, field, or solutions-engineering experience
For positions requiring access to technical data, Analog Devices, Inc. may have to obtain export licensing approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the U.S. Department of State - Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. As such, applicants for this position – except US Citizens, US Permanent Residents, and protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) – may have to go through an export licensing review process.
Analog Devices is an equal opportunity employer.
Job Req Type: Experienced
Required Travel: Yes, 10% of the time
Shift Type: 1st Shift/Days
The expected wage range for a new hire into this position is $230,000 to $316,250.
Actual wage offered may vary depending on work location, experience, education, training, external market data, internal pay equity, or other bona fide factors.
This position qualifies for a discretionary performance-based bonus which is based on personal and company factors.
This position includes medical, vision and dental coverage, 401k, paid vacation, holidays, and sick time, and other benefits.
Prep for this interview
5 questions likely to come up at Analog Devices, each matched to a line in this posting.
- 1Integrations and APIs
They wrote: “Write production-grade code: custom data pipelines, API integrations, and MLOps/AI workflows”
Walk me through connecting our product to a customer's internal system that has no documentation.
How to answer
Why they ask: This happens weekly in the job. They want a calm, step-by-step method.
- Find who owns the system and get read access to a test environment
- Watch real traffic or logs to learn the data shapes
- Build a thin adapter with logging around every call
- Agree on how failures get reported, and who fixes what
Tip: Talk about finding the owner of the system first. The code is the easy part.
- 2LLMs, RAG and agents
They wrote: “Edge AI, LLM/agentic systems, or signal-processing background”
When would you use an agent that takes actions, and how do you keep it safe?
How to answer
Why they ask: Agent work is growing fast in FDE postings. Senior candidates are expected to know where agents fail.
- Use agents for multi-step tasks with clear success checks; avoid them where one wrong action is costly
- Give the agent narrow tools and permissions, not broad access
- Require human approval for risky actions
- Log every step so the customer can audit it
Tip: Start from the cost of a wrong action. Limit what the agent can do, and log everything.
- 3Data and SQL
They wrote: “Strong Python plus experience with data pipelines, APIs, and MLOps/AI workflows”
How would you design a daily pipeline that feeds customer data into our product?
How to answer
Why they ask: Tests basic data engineering: scheduling, failures, re-runs and monitoring.
- Extract with timestamps or change tracking, not full dumps, when possible
- Transform in steps you can re-run without creating duplicates
- Validate row counts and key fields before loading
- Alert a person on failure, with enough detail to fix it
Tip: Make re-running safe (same input, same result) and say how you'd know it failed.
- 4Coding
They wrote: “BS/MS in CS, EE, or related; 10+ years building production software”
How do you keep quality high when you ship fast at a customer site?
How to answer
Why they ask: Speed is the job, but broken code at a customer is costly. They want your guardrails.
- Tests for the parts that touch customer data or money
- Code review even when it's fast, ideally by someone on the product team
- Feature flags and an easy way to roll back
- Clean up the shortcuts in the next release, and write them down
Tip: Name the few checks you never skip, and what you skip on purpose.
- 5Travel
They wrote: “Willingness to travel and embed with strategic clients”
How do you handle being on the road with customers for weeks at a time?
How to answer
Why they ask: Many FDE roles involve regular travel. They check you know what you're signing up for.
- Your past travel or on-site experience
- How you stay productive away from the team
- What travel level works for you, said plainly
Tip: Be honest about what works for you. A mismatch here hurts both sides later.
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