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Forward deployed engineer salary: what employers publish, by company

Employers' posted salary ranges for forward deployed engineers, side by side and dated, plus why self-reported sites show a different number and what to ask before you accept an offer.

Forward Deployed Salary editorial teamPublished Updated 9 minute read

In this article: 7 sections

key points

  • In the nine US dollar-range postings we compared, annual ranges run from $120,000 (C3 AI, federal) to $376,000 (Figma, one range with level set by qualifications and scope); Palantir lists $135,000 to $200,000, Databricks $182,000 to $250,208 and OpenAI $185,000 to $300,000, all read October 23, 2026 1,2,3,4,5.
  • Check what a number covers: Scale AI, GitLab and Figma state base salary, Databricks describes its range as the expected base salary for non-commissionable roles, Palantir calls its range an estimate that leaves out the sign-on bonus and long-term incentives, and OpenAI, Ramp and Anthropic give no equity value 6,7,2,4,3,5,8,9.
  • Posted ranges step up by level inside one employer: Scale AI's three FDE levels, posted for San Francisco, list $180,000 to $225,000, $216,000 to $270,000 and $252,000 to $315,000 6,10,11.
  • Self-reported total compensation on Levels.fyi has a US median of $220,000 (25th percentile $172,000, 75th percentile $292,000), but it includes stock and bonus and cannot be compared with base-only ranges 12.
  • In three same-employer comparisons the FDE posting did not list a higher range than the software engineer posting: Palantir's ranges are identical, and OpenAI and Anthropic list higher ranges for the software engineer postings we matched 3,13,5,14,9,15.

In the nine US dollar-range forward deployed engineer (FDE) postings in the table below, published annual salary ranges run from $120,000 to $376,000. Five of the nine start between $135,000 and $185,000 and end between $200,000 and $300,000: Palantir lists $135,000 to $200,000, Databricks $182,000 to $250,208 and OpenAI $185,000 to $300,000 3,4,5. The table is a sample, not every posting: OpenAI's board also lists a Forward Deployed Security Engineer role in Washington, DC at $266,000 to $445,000 16. Levels.fyi, which collects self-reported total compensation including stock and bonus, shows a US median of $220,000 12. The two are different measures, so this page keeps them apart.

How to read this page. Every employer figure is a range posted on the employer's own job board and read on October 23, 2026. A posted range is the employer's stated expectation when it lists the job, not what anyone was paid. Before you compare two offers, check whether each number is base salary or total compensation.

How much do employers pay forward deployed engineers?

The table lists a sample of engineer-titled FDE postings that publish a pay range. Figures are US dollars a year unless marked. The last column says what each posting says its number covers, because that is where offers get misread.

EmployerPostingListed rangeWhat the posting says it covers
PalantirForward Deployed Software Engineer, New York 3$135,000 to $200,000Called an estimate. Total pay may also include stock units and a sign-on bonus; the estimate excludes the sign-on bonus, benefits and long-term incentives.
OpenAIForward Deployed Engineer, San Francisco 5$185,000 to $300,000Salary range; equity is flagged as offered, with no amount.
AnthropicStaff Forward Deployed Engineer, New York, San Francisco or Seattle 9$280,000 to $320,000Labeled annual salary. Does not say base or total, and states no equity value.
AnthropicForward Deployed Engineer, London 17£225,000 to £255,000 (pounds)Labeled annual salary, same wording.
DatabricksSr. Forward Deployed Engineer, United States 4$182,000 to $250,208Described as the expected base salary range for non-commissionable roles (on-target earnings for commissionable ones). The package may also include eligibility for an annual performance bonus and equity.
Scale AIFrontier Agents Engineer (Forward Deployed Engineering), San Francisco 6$180,000 to $225,000Base salary. Equity and benefits are separate. The lowest of three levels posted.
RampSoftware Engineer, Forward Deployed, New York 8$168,000 to $285,000Salary range; equity is flagged as offered, with no amount.
GitLabStaff Forward Deployed Engineer, US remote 7$220,000 to $270,000Base salary. Excludes bonuses, equity and benefits.
FigmaForward Deployed Engineer, San Francisco, New York or US remote 2$153,000 to $376,000Annual base salary range. The posting says Figma offers equity, plus an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles.
C3 AIForward Deployed Engineer, Federal, Tysons, Virginia 1$120,000 to $158,000Virginia base pay range. The posting mentions an equity plan.

The spread is wide. Six of the nine dollar ranges start between $135,000 and $185,000, and six end between $200,000 and $300,000. The outliers explain why. Figma's single range runs from $153,000 to $376,000, and the posting says job level and actual pay depend on qualifications, scope, market demands and location 2. The two staff-level ranges (Anthropic and GitLab) start at $280,000 and $220,000 9,7. C3 AI's federal range tops out at $158,000 1.

Early-career roles are posted too. Palantir's New York new-grad forward deployed software engineer posting lists $135,000 to $145,000, and C3 AI's federal new-grad posting lists $120,000 to $150,000 18,19. For company-specific detail, see our pages on Palantir forward deployed engineer pay and OpenAI forward deployed engineer pay.

Is a published range base pay or total compensation?

It depends on the employer, and the wording is easy to skim past. Databricks describes its range as the expected base salary range for non-commissionable roles (on-target earnings for commissionable ones) and says the total package may also include eligibility for an annual performance bonus and equity 4. Scale AI and GitLab also state base salary, with equity (and at GitLab, bonuses and benefits) outside the range 6,7. Figma labels its figure an annual base salary range and lists equity and an annual bonus plan separately 2.

Others are looser. Palantir calls its figure an estimate and says total pay may also include stock units, a sign-on bonus and other incentives 3. OpenAI and Ramp post a salary range and flag that equity is offered without giving an amount 5,8. Anthropic labels its figure annual salary and does not say whether it is base or total 9,17.

Pay transparency law gives some context. New York's statute requires an advertised job to disclose the compensation or a range of compensation. It defines the range as the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range that the employer in good faith believes is accurate when it posts the job, and the text does not address bonuses or equity 20. We cannot tell from a posting whether a law prompted it. What the postings show is that the posted figure is a salary range, and in the ones we read, equity sits outside it or has no stated value.

What do self-reported sites and federal data say?

Levels.fyi lists a median yearly total compensation of $220,000 for forward deployed engineers in the United States, with a 25th percentile of $172,000, a 75th percentile of $292,000 and a 90th percentile of $354,000, on a page updated October 23, 2026 12. It defines total compensation as base salary plus the yearly value of stock grants plus bonus, and says its figures come from salaries and offers that employees report, with outliers removed 12. It files the title under its Software Engineer track, in an applications specialization 12. The page does not say how many reports sit behind the FDE figures, and one median across employers and levels cannot show where you would fall.

That is why a $220,000 median and a $182,000 to $250,208 posted range are not directly comparable. One includes stock and bonus and is self-reported; the other is a range an employer chose to publish and describes as base salary. We do not average them, and you should not either.

Federal data gives context but not an FDE number. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $135,980 for software developers in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent earning less than $82,460 and the highest 10 percent more than $214,670 21. The page has no separate figure for forward deployed engineers. Seven of the nine dollar ranges in our table start above that median, but the table covers employers that publish ranges, so it shows how those employers pay, not what FDEs earn nationally.

How much does level change forward deployed engineer pay?

Scale AI is the clearest case because it posted three levels of the same role, each with one range for San Francisco, New York and Seattle. Base salary for a Frontier Agents Engineer is $180,000 to $225,000, for a Senior Frontier Agents Engineer $216,000 to $270,000 and for a Staff Frontier Agents Engineer $252,000 to $315,000 6,10,11. The staff floor sits above the lowest level's ceiling. Scale also notes that a displayed range may be inclusive of several career levels 6.

Location matters at some employers and not at others. Scale AI's public sector forward deployed software engineer posting, first listed in October 2024, gives $184,000 to $292,560 for San Francisco, New York and Seattle, $165,600 to $263,304 for Hawaii, Washington DC, Texas and Colorado, and $138,000 to $219,420 for St. Louis 22. Databricks lists the same $182,000 to $250,208 in all four of its pay zones for its senior FDE posting 4.

Do forward deployed engineers earn more than software engineers?

Not in the three same-employer comparisons we made. We matched FDE postings to software engineer postings at the same employer, in the same city where we could.

  • Palantir, New York: the forward deployed software engineer posting and a backend software engineer posting both list an estimated $135,000 to $200,000 3,13.
  • OpenAI, San Francisco: the FDE posting lists $185,000 to $300,000, and the Software Engineer, Codex Enterprise posting lists $230,000 to $385,000 5,14.
  • Anthropic, San Francisco and Seattle: the Staff FDE posting lists $280,000 to $320,000, and the Staff Software Engineer, Finance Engineering posting lists $320,000 to $405,000 9,15.

These are posted salary ranges, and each employer may map its postings to different internal levels, so a higher range for engineers does not prove a pay gap. The ranges also leave out the value of stock, which could change the picture in either direction. We found no source that measures actual FDE pay against software engineer pay at a controlled level, so treat any claim of an FDE premium or discount as unproven.

How should you negotiate a forward deployed engineer offer?

The postings point to five questions that cost nothing to ask. None of them guarantees a higher offer.

  1. Which level is this offer, and what is the range for that level? Scale AI says a displayed range may span several career levels, and Figma's single range spans $223,000 from bottom to top 6,2.
  2. What is the equity, in shares, in value and on what schedule? Posted ranges mostly leave it out. Compare offers on yearly total compensation, which Levels.fyi counts as base plus the yearly value of stock grants plus bonus 12.
  3. Is there a sign-on bonus or other incentive? Palantir says total pay may include both and that its estimate excludes the sign-on bonus and long-term incentives 3.
  4. How much travel does the number come with? Postings state up to 25% at Palantir, 20% at Databricks, 25% in Anthropic's staff posting, 25% to 50% in its London posting and up to 50% at OpenAI 3,4,9,17,5. Two offers with the same salary are different jobs if one asks for twice the time on the road.
  5. Does this match the range you posted? Where New York's law applies, the posted range is defined as one the employer in good faith believes is accurate at the time of posting 20, so it is a fair reference to bring into the conversation.

If you are benchmarking as an employer. Match on level, location and what the number includes before you compare. A range that spans several levels, or that leaves equity unvalued, can make your offers look closer to or further from the market than they are.

How current are these figures, and what do they leave out?

  • They are postings, not payroll. A range is what an employer expects to offer when it lists a job. It does not show what people accepted.
  • It is a sample, not a census. We read the employers' own public job boards on October 23, 2026, and kept a sample of engineer-titled FDE postings that showed a pay range. Employers that post no range are missing, the same employers post other FDE-titled roles at different ranges (OpenAI's Forward Deployed Security Engineer posting lists $266,000 to $445,000 16), and the only non-US range here is one London posting.
  • Titles vary. We left out manager and product manager titles even when the words "forward deployed" appeared.
  • Two employers post on Ashby. For OpenAI and Ramp, we read the pay from Ashby's public job-board feed for the same posting, and it matches the figure on the posting page.
  • Dates matter. Each source below carries the date the employer first posted it, where the employer shows one. Treat a range older than 60 days as a reason to check the posting again.

Questions readers ask

What is the average forward deployed engineer salary?

There is no reliable single average. Self-reported data on Levels.fyi shows a US median of $220,000 in total compensation, with a 25th percentile of $172,000 and a 75th percentile of $292,000, on a page updated October 23, 2026. Employer-posted salary ranges for FDE roles in our table run from $120,000 to $376,000 and, where the posting says, are base salary. The first measure includes stock and bonus and the second does not, so do not average them.

How much does an entry-level or new-grad forward deployed engineer make?

Two new-grad postings we read list Palantir's New York commercial role at an estimated $135,000 to $145,000 and C3 AI's federal role in Tysons, Virginia at a $120,000 to $150,000 base pay range. Palantir says total pay may also include stock units and a sign-on bonus. Two postings are not a market average.

Do forward deployed engineers earn more than software engineers?

Not in the postings we compared on October 23, 2026. Palantir lists the same estimated range, $135,000 to $200,000, for its New York forward deployed and backend software engineer postings. OpenAI's San Francisco FDE posting lists $185,000 to $300,000 against $230,000 to $385,000 for a Codex Enterprise software engineer, and Anthropic's Staff FDE range of $280,000 to $320,000 sits below its Staff Software Engineer, Finance Engineering range of $320,000 to $405,000. Levels may differ between postings, and none of the ranges values stock.

Do forward deployed engineers get equity?

Many postings say so, but none in our table puts a number on it. Palantir says total compensation may include restricted stock units, OpenAI and Ramp flag that equity is offered with no amount, Databricks says the package may include equity, and Scale AI says eligible roles are granted equity. Ask for the grant size, how it is valued, and the vesting schedule in writing, and compare offers on yearly total compensation.

Sources

  1. [1]C3 AI, Forward Deployed Engineer, Federal (Tysons, Virginia), 2026-06-05. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  2. [2]Figma, Forward Deployed Engineer (San Francisco, New York, United States), 2026-08-25. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  3. [3]Palantir, Forward Deployed Software Engineer (New York). Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  4. [4]Databricks, Sr. Forward Deployed Engineer (United States), 2026-08-21. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  5. [5]OpenAI, Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) - SF, 2026-09-11. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  6. [6]Scale AI, Frontier Agents Engineer (Forward Deployed Engineering) (San Francisco), 2026-05-15. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  7. [7]GitLab, Staff Forward Deployed Engineer (Remote, US), 2026-07-20. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  8. [8]Ramp, Software Engineer, Forward Deployed (New York), 2026-10-22. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  9. [9]Anthropic, Staff Forward Deployed Engineer (New York City, San Francisco, Seattle), 2026-10-14. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  10. [10]Scale AI, Senior Frontier Agents Engineer (Forward Deployed Engineering) (San Francisco), 2026-05-15. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  11. [11]Scale AI, Staff Frontier Agents Engineer (Forward Deployed Engineering) (San Francisco), 2026-05-15. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  12. [12]Levels.fyi, Forward Deployed Engineer Salary, 2026-10-23. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  13. [13]Palantir, Backend Software Engineer - Application Development (New York). Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  14. [14]OpenAI, Software Engineer, Codex Enterprise, 2026-01-09. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  15. [15]Anthropic, Staff Software Engineer, Finance Engineering (San Francisco, Seattle), 2026-10-21. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  16. [16]OpenAI, Forward Deployed Security Engineer, 2026-05-21. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  17. [17]Anthropic, Forward Deployed Engineer (London, UK), 2026-09-14. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  18. [18]Palantir, Forward Deployed Software Engineer, New Grad - Commercial (New York). Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  19. [19]C3 AI, Forward Deployed Engineer - Federal, New Grad 2027 (Tysons, Virginia), 2026-10-19. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  20. [20]New York State Senate, Labor Law section 194-b: Mandatory disclosure of compensation or range of compensation. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  21. [21]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers: Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025 wage data), 2026-08-27. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text
  22. [22]Scale AI, Forward Deployed Software Engineer, Public Sector, 2024-10-09. Accessed 2026-10-23. Back to text

Researched and written by the Forward Deployed Salary editorial team from the sources listed above. How we source.

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