Everything We Know About Hiring FDEs
The scorecard, role-play script and interview questions we run on every candidate, plus plain answers about a role most companies are still figuring out. Free, and yours to steal.
The FDE Hiring Playbook
The interview loop we run on every candidate, written up so you can run it yourself. Built by a former FDE.
- The FDE scorecard: build, discovery, pushback, shipping
- Our customer role-play script, persona and twist included
- Twelve interview questions and what strong answers sound like
Tools and Templates
FDE job description generator
Answer five questions about your product and customers. Get a job description you can post today.
Get it free →Template · FreeFDE interview scorecard
The rubric we use: build, discovery, pushback and shipping under pressure.
Get it free →Template · FreeCustomer role-play script
Run our role-play in your own loop. Includes the persona, the twist and what to listen for.
Get it free →Guides
What is a Forward Deployed Engineer?
The role Palantir invented and AI companies made famous, explained in five minutes.
Read the guide →The roleFDE vs Solutions Engineer vs Sales Engineer
Who does what, when, and which one you actually need.
Read the guide →HiringHow to hire your first FDE
Seniority, sourcing, the interview loop and the mistakes we see most.
Read the guide →HiringInterview questions that reveal a great FDE
Twelve questions, and what a strong answer sounds like.
Read the guide →Building the teamHow many FDEs per customer?
Pod structures and ratios from teams that have scaled the function.
Read the guide →Building the teamYour new FDE's first 90 days
How to ramp a new FDE without throwing them at your hardest customer on day one.
Read the guide →The Field Notes newsletter
One email a month on FDE hiring, team design and how the best teams run deployments.