Careers
We hire FDEs — but the job is probably not what you picture
Before the title appeals to you, look at what the work actually is: more than half of it is talking with customers, not writing code.
Apply by email
Copy this address and send your CV plus the three points above. Use the subject "FDE application".
contact@mail.kchangai.com
What the role actually involves
Forward deployed engineer is not a more senior engineering title. Industry research gives a concrete time split, and it matches what the work feels like in practice:
- 47%
- Customer communicationWatching processes on site, talking to front-line staff, aligning with business owners
- 31%
- Writing codePrototypes, integration, tuning, data and permissions
- 22%
- Internal coordinationSyncing what the field taught us, compounding reusable components
Source: a Perspective AI survey of 1,500 FDE practitioners. Two further figures are widely cited: 83% of FDEs do not report to sales and none carry a quota; the shorthand practitioners in both China and the US repeat is "60% conversation, 40% engineering".
So you need to be comfortable with this: most of your day is conversation and coordination; your satisfaction comes from a system genuinely being used rather than elegant code; and you will meet resistance from front-line staff, because a new system may change how they work.
Who we are looking for
Someone who understands what the business is saying and turns it into a technical task
Customers will not hand you a requirements document. You have to hear the real problem in a half-hour conversation, then judge whether it can be solved with technology and whether it is worth solving.
Someone who can build the thing themselves
You do not need to be expert in everything, but you do need to carry something from prototype to a working system: calling model APIs, handling data, writing front and back end, integrating third-party systems. You learn what you are missing as you go.
Someone willing to say "this cannot be done"
One of the qualities we value most. Stating clearly what is not achievable is worth far more than forcing out something unusable. It is written into our delivery principles.
Someone curious about the customer's business
Willing to spend a day with a sales rep, an afternoon on a factory floor, an evening reading industry material. This is what separates people who find the real problem from people who do not.
Someone who can travel
Industry data shows 68% of FDE roles require travel. Our Beijing projects can be on site; elsewhere we work mostly remotely — but you still need to be able to attend in person.
Who this role does not suit
Saying who a job is not for is more useful than listing benefits. Please do not apply if any of these describe you.
- A recent graduate hoping to become a technical expert quickly through one job. This role is not friendly to beginners — we have seen that mismatch too often. Practitioners are blunt about it: a training course will not make you ready to take on enterprise work independently.
- Someone who wants only to write code and not talk to customers. More than half this job is communication, and disliking that would be miserable.
- Someone who wants a clear, stable task list. FDE work begins with working out what the task even is. There is no ready-made list.
- Someone who cannot handle their approach being rejected and revised repeatedly. Change on a customer site is normal.
- Someone looking for a fully remote role with no travel. The work requires attending in person; remote is a supplement, not the mode.
What we offer
We asked forward deployed engineers what matters most to them. The top answer was not pay — it was whether what they learn on site feeds back into the product. If field signal never changes what you build, you are a services team with a fashionable title. That happens to be our advantage: we have our own AI product.
Field experience genuinely returns to the product
The company runs its own AI short-drama production platform (kduanju.com, 10+ model vendors, 40+ models). Model behaviour, cost traps and evaluation methods you discover on site go back into that product — not into a retrospective nobody reads. This is the substantive difference between us and a pure services firm.
Authority on site, not approval from head office at every step
The judgement you form in front of the customer is yours to act on. An arrangement where every step needs confirmation doubles communication cost and removes your sense of owning the project.
No sales quota
We do not put our FDEs on a quota. Across the industry 83% of FDEs do not report to sales and none carry a quota — that is not a coincidence. Once you carry a number, what you say in front of a customer stops being credible.
Small team, little process, few projects at a time
We take on few projects simultaneously so each gets depth. You will not be dropped into a resourcing pool doing repeat work, and projects will not pile up beyond what the team can watch.
An honest picture of the rhythm
Travel is required, but you will not be pinned to it: Beijing projects can be on site, elsewhere mostly remote. The real time split is 47% customer communication, 31% coding, 22% internal coordination (industry survey data) — not "mostly coding".
What we do not promise: we cannot match large-company salaries and benefits; we are small, with no established promotion ladder; the pressure is real, since problems on a customer site do not get simpler because our team is small; and this role is better understood as a two-to-four year growth window than a seat for a decade. Better said now than discovered later.
When not to join
Across industry research, practitioners list a remarkably consistent set of signals that a role is not worth taking. We publish them so you have a basis for judging us — and so that they constrain us. If you see any of these here, say so directly.
- The title changed but the work is really pre-sales support
- FDEs are assigned to fix product bugs rather than solve customer problems
- Every step needs head office approval; there is no authority on site
- You are sent to customers too small to carry the cost of embedding anyone
- What is found on site never changes the product roadmap
- The advertised salary band sits clearly below engineering roles at the same company
Open roles
We are always looking for the right FDE. Specific roles open as projects require.
There are no publicly listed openings right now, but we read every application. If the description above sounds like you, write to us — and make sure the email says what projects you have worked on and what you specifically did in them.
Send a speculative application
Copy this address and send your CV plus the three points above. Use the subject "FDE application".
contact@mail.kchangai.com
How to apply
No written test, and no interest in a designed CV template. Three things matter.
1. One specific problem you solved
Not "responsible for developing system X". Say what the problem was, what you did, what happened, and what you would change if you did it again.
2. Your experience dealing with the business side
If you have faced customers or business departments directly, describe your role, the resistance you met and how you handled it. This matters to us more than your stack.
3. How much you can be on site
Which city you are in, and how much travel you can take on. This directly affects which projects you can join.
Send the above by email with the subject "FDE application". No portfolio site needed — but if you have a GitHub or written work, include it.
Process: application review → one online conversation (about 45 minutes, about what you have done) → one practical exercise (a real scenario, to see how you break it down) → a meeting in person. We tell you where you stand at every stage, including when the answer is no.
Please use this subject: FDE application
Common questions
Which technologies do I need?
Nothing mandatory, but the work involves calling large-model APIs, handling data (mostly Python), building simple web interfaces and integrating third-party systems. In industry surveys the common stack is Python (66%), TypeScript (35%) and AI agents (35%). How fast you learn matters more to us than what you already know.
Can I apply without FDE experience?
Yes. Very few people in China have done this job under that title. We look for two things: evidence that you have taken something from vague to working on your own, and an ability to communicate with the business side. People from implementation consulting, pre-sales, product or front-line business roles often adapt faster than purely technical backgrounds.
Is remote work possible?
The role is based in Beijing. Projects in Beijing may require attending the customer site; projects elsewhere are mostly remote. A fully remote arrangement with no travel does not fit this job.
What is the salary range?
We do not publish a range on the page, because it depends on your experience and the role you take on, and we would rather give a specific number after a conversation than a wide bracket. For context, the average FDE salary in China is RMB 408,000 with a median of RMB 366,000 (source: Liepin). We will state our budget honestly in the first conversation.
Do you take interns or part-time staff?
Not currently. FDE work requires facing a customer independently, which is hard to carry as an intern or part-timer — which is also why we say this role is not friendly to beginners.
If you have read all of that and still want in
Then write the first thing clearly: one specific problem you solved. Send it to our email with the subject "FDE application".