Forward Deployed Engineer; FDE

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Catalyst Labs is a specialised talent partner focusing on recruiting top‑tier engineers across Software, Data, and AI‑driven domains. We are deeply embedded in our clients’ technical hiring operations and collaborate directly with Founders, CTOs, and Heads of AI at Tier 1 VC‑backed startups, scale‑ups and enterprise tech. We help organisations accelerate their AI capabilities and build mission‑critical applications.

Hudson Yards, NY – Full time, Hybrid (travel required 10–30% of the time).

This role is centred around partnering directly with customers to solve their most valuable and complex problems. As a Forward Deployed Software Engineer, you will work hand‑in‑hand with stakeholders to design, build, and maintain high‑impact applications that drive real business change. Your day‑to‑day work involves understanding mission‑critical objectives, transforming enterprise data into operational workflows, and delivering tools that executives and frontline teams rely on to make informed decisions.

You’ll move fast, rapidly iterating, building systems from scratch, and enabling organisations to modernise their operations at exceptional speed. Beyond writing code, you will play a key role in reshaping how entire teams operate by delivering powerful, data‑driven solutions that directly influence business outcomes.

• Work closely with customer stakeholders to understand their most critical business objectives and translate them into high‑impact technical solutions.
• Architect, develop, and maintain applications that ope rationalise enterprise data and drive measurable business outcomes.
• Build end‑to‑end workflows using large structured and unstructured datasets in production environments.
• Iterate rapidly, often building systems from scratch, to help customers transform their operations at exceptional speed.
• Collaborate directly with executives, operators, and cross‑functional teams to deploy tools that meaningfully improve business processes.
• Own projects autonomously, taking full responsibility for delivery, implementation, and long‑term success.
• Embed with customer teams as needed, providing both technical expertise and on‑the‑ground support.
• Travel to client sites as required (typically 10–33%) to support implementations and ensure successful adoption.
• Work hybrid/on‑site at company offices (London, New York, Washington D.C., or Denver) and at customer locations during key phases of deployment.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• 1–5 years of experience as a full‑stack engineer, data engineer, or FDE.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to break down complex challenges and deliver practical, production‑ready solutions.
• Proficiency in Python and/or Type Script.
• Demonstrated experience building applications that leverage large datasets in real‑world production environments.
• Proven track record of delivering measurable outcomes through code, whether as a software engineer, data scientist, or technical analytics lead.
• Ability to work independently and own outcomes end‑to‑end while also collaborating effectively with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work closely with customers and internal teams.
• Willingness to travel for customer implementations (10–33% depending on project).
• Enthusiasm for working hybrid‑in‑person at one of the company’s office locations and onsite with customers.

• Experience working with Palantir Foundry and/or AIP.
• Experience delivering production ML or LLM‑based solutions.
• Experience building production React frontend applications.
• Familiarity with Spark, distributed computing, or large‑scale data processing frameworks.

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