Forward Deployed Engineer

Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) at Rippling are customer-facing software engineers who bridge the gap between the complex business problems of our customers and the full power of the Rippling Platform.

In this role, you will lead some of the most technically and organizationally complex customer engagements, owning not just execution but also problem framing, solution strategy, and cross-functional alignment. You are trusted to operate with minimal guidance, influence customer direction, and raise the bar for technical quality and customer outcomes.

This role is ideal for experienced engineers who combine strong technical judgment, customer intuition, and product thinking - and who thrive on responsibility and ownership.

What You Will Do

• Partner directly with customer stakeholders - from individual contributors to executives - to understand business processes, pain points, and success criteria.
• Own the full lifecycle of customer solutions, from discovery and scoping through build, deployment, and post-launch iteration.
• Build custom solutions on the Rippling Platform, including data connectors, custom apps, functions, workflows, data models, reports, and analytics by writing code in TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, and SQL, alongside Rippling's no-code tooling.
• Translate ambiguous business requirements into clear technical designs and working software.
• Provide technical guidance and support throughout implementation, including troubleshooting, optimization, and adoption support.
• Identify opportunities where customer solutions can inform or extend native Rippling product capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with account teams, product managers, and engineers to align customer needs with platform capabilities.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• 4+ years of professional software development experience.
• Strong proficiency in at least one of TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, or Go, with experience in SQL and data modeling.
• Proven ability to lead ambiguous projects independently and deliver high-quality outcomes.
• Excellent communication skills and comfort working directly with senior customer stakeholders.
• Strong customer empathy paired with sound technical judgment.
• Excellent project ownership and execution skills.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites as needed (up to ~25%).

This role will receive a competitive salary + benefits + equity. The salary for US-based employees will be aligned with one of the ranges below based on location; see which tier applies to your location here.

A variety of factors are considered when determining someone's compensation-including a candidate's professional background, experience, and location. Final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed below.

The pay range for this role is:

126,000 - 220,500 USD per year (US Tier 1)

Rippling gives businesses one place to run HR, IT, and Finance. It brings together all of the workforce systems that are normally scattered across a company, like payroll, expenses, benefits, and computers. For the first time ever, you can manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single system. Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can hire a new employee anywhere in the world and set up their payroll, corporate card, computer, benefits, and even third-party apps like Slack and Microsoft 365-all within 90 seconds. Based in San Francisco, CA, Rippling has raised $1.4B from the world's top investors-including Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Greenoaks, and Bedrock-and was named one of America's best startup employers by Forbes.