Forward Deployed Engineer, Workstream
$170-200k
+ Equity
3 days a week in office (Menlo Park, CA)
HR and payroll solutions built specifically for restaurants
Be an early applicant
HR and payroll solutions built specifically for restaurants
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$170-200k
+ Equity
3 days a week in office (Menlo Park, CA)
201-500 employees
Company mission
To help businesses hire faster and smarter, so they can focus on supporting their team and serving their customers.
Role
Who you are
- 4+ years of experience in robotics, computer vision, machine learning, data science or model building
- Strong full-stack technical capability (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, APIs, SQL, integrations, or similar)
- Proven ability to own and deliver complex technical projects in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
- Experience working directly with customers or external stakeholders on technical implementations
- Exceptional problem-solving skills with a bias toward action and first-principles thinking
- Ability to move quickly from prototype to production while maintaining quality
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills across technical and non-technical audiences
- High ownership mindset with pride in end-to-end accountability
- Comfort balancing immediate customer needs with long-term scalable product thinking
Desirable
- Experience in HR tech, SaaS, payroll, hiring, or workforce management platforms
- Background in forward deployed engineering, solutions architecture, implementation engineering, or technical consulting
- Experience building integrations, workflow automation, or AI-powered operational tools
- Familiarity with enterprise deployments, APIs, data pipelines, or systems architecture
- Previous experience at high-growth startups, Palantir-style deployment teams, or customer-facing product engineering organizations
What the job involves
- We are looking for a highly technical, customer-obsessed, and execution-driven Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to bridge the gap between Workstream’s product platform and our customers’ most complex operational challenges
- In this role, you will operate at the intersection of engineering, product, and customer deployment—embedding deeply with strategic customers to design, build, and deploy high-impact technical solutions that drive measurable business outcomes
- You will own end-to-end deployments from discovery and technical scoping through implementation, iteration, and scaled adoption
- This is a high-ownership role for engineers who thrive in ambiguity, move quickly from prototype to production, and want to solve real-world business problems rather than just build in abstraction
- You will work directly with customers, internal product and engineering teams, and executive stakeholders to shape deployment strategy while identifying reusable patterns that influence Workstream’s broader platform roadmap
- This structure mirrors leading forward-deployed models where engineers embed closely with customers, ship quickly, and feed field insights back into core product development
- Own technical delivery across strategic customer deployments from initial discovery through production launch and long-term adoption
- Embed closely with enterprise customers to understand workflows, operational pain points, and technical requirements
- Scope, architect, and build custom solutions, integrations, workflows, and product extensions that deliver measurable customer value
- Write production-grade code across backend, frontend, APIs, integrations, or automation layers as needed to accelerate deployment
- Translate ambiguous customer problems into structured technical roadmaps and execution plans
- Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Sales, Customer Success, and Leadership to align deployments with business priorities
- Make trade-offs between speed, scope, scalability, and productization while protecting customer outcomes
- Identify repeatable deployment patterns and convert one-off customer solutions into scalable product capabilities
- Serve as a strategic technical advisor to customers, helping shape adoption, implementation strategy, and long-term success
- Surface field learnings, customer pain points, and deployment insights back to Workstream’s core product roadmap
- This is not traditional software engineering, sales engineering, or implementation support. Forward Deployed Engineers at Workstream act more like startup operators or technical mini-GMs for strategic deployments—owning customer outcomes, shipping production systems quickly, and shaping the future product through execution. The best candidates are engineers who want to build, deploy, and influence product direction simultaneously
Our take
Recruiting new staff can be a slow andf frustrating process for HR teams, especially in industries that rely on hourly workers. Roles often need filling quickly, turnover can be high, and managers don't always have time to sit at a desk sorting through applications and emails. So, chasing candidates, scheduling interviews, and keeping people engaged can take hours each week, often delaying businesses , leaving them short-staffed when they need people most.
Workstream is a HR and hiring platform built specifically for hourly workers, with text messaging at the centre of how it works. Instead of forcing candidates to apply through long online forms or emails they may never check, Workstream allows people to apply, communicate, schedule interviews, and even complete parts of onboarding directly through their phone. And for employers, the platform automates most of the hiring process, so managers can source, screen, hire, and onboard staff with ease.
Whilst the company operates in a competitive HR software market, its carved out a strong position by focusing on deskless and hourly workers, a group often overlooked by traditional HR tools. Its growing list of customers also span quick-service restaurants, retail, logistics, and other hourly-heavy industries, and the company has attracted significant investor backing as a result. Competition may remain strong but Workstream's clear focus, steady expansion, and continued product adoption give it a strong foothold in the market.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
4% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Sep 2022
$60m
SERIES B
Aug 2021
$48m
SERIES B
Total funding: $118m
Company benefits
- Health and wellness: We care about the physical and mental health of each of our team members. We offer every employee comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, and access to a generous number of fully-paid counseling sessions with licensed therapists every year.
- Competitive compensation (and equity): As a company, we have ambitious goals with a high-potential financial upside—and we share that with every employee through competitive market compensation and generous stock.
- Flexible time off: We believe team members do their best work when their life feels balanced. We promote work-life harmony through flexible PTO and paid parental leave.
- Professional development: We believe in becoming 1% better each day. That’s why we offer a quarterly learning reimbursement that can be used toward continuing education, books, subscriptions and more.
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Desmond Lim
(Co-Founder & CEO)Prior to co-founding Workstream in 2017, Desmond was a Product Manager at MIT Media Lab and WeChat.
Max Wang
(Co-Founder & CTO)Previously, Max co-founded VC.CN where he served as the CTO for 5 years.
Lei Xu
(Co-Founder & CSO)Lei previously co-founded Emote where he served as the CTO for 2 years. Prior to that, he spent 3 years at Google in Revenue Acceleration and Software Engineering roles.
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