Director of Forward Deployed Engineering

Job description

Do you want to empower organizations to build smarter compensation strategies while ensuring fair pay for all employees?

Syndio is a Series C technology company leveraging advanced technology and responsible AI to accelerate decision-making, streamline compliance, and democratize insights for consistent, equitable compensation practices at scale. Backed by $83M in investments from Bessemer Venture Partners, Voyager Capital, and Emerson Collective, we are expanding our team and products to help companies align their rewards strategies with their business goals.

Our customers are our greatest asset. Syndio partners with many of the world’s most recognized and respected enterprises, helping them implement leading-edge compensation solutions with expert guidance. We analyze pay for over 10 million employees across dozens of countries, ensuring fair, defensible rewards that drive better business outcomes.

Join us in our mission to help companies make smarter pay decisions they can trust!

About the role

We are looking for a hands on Director of Forward Deployed Engineering to lead the team responsible for the “last mile” of the Syndio experience. In this role, you will bridge the gap between our core product and our clients’ unique data environments. Your team’s mission is to ensure that every client transitioning to the new Syndio platform is set up for long-term success through seamless data ingestion, precise platform configuration, and deep user adoption.

As the leader of this team, you won’t just be overseeing technical implementations; you will be architecting the process that transforms complex enterprise data into actionable insights for the world’s leading companies. You will play a pivotal role in our vision of Decision Intelligence, ensuring our technology is deeply embedded into our clients’ daily compensation and equity workflows.

Why this role is exciting

• Lead a High-Impact Team: Build and scale a team of Forward Deployed Engineers who serve as the technical face of Syndio for our most strategic clients.
• Architect Data Ingestion: Oversee the design and execution of complex data ingestion pipelines, ensuring client data flows accurately and securely into the Syndio platform using our Integration Platform tools.
• Drive Platform Adoption: Go beyond “going live.” You will be responsible for process embedding - ensuring that our platform becomes an indispensable part of the client’s HR and compensation ecosystem.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Work closely with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success to provide feedback loops that improve our core data products based on real-world implementation challenges.
• Shape the Client Journey: Define the “gold standard” for client onboarding, from initial group setup and data mapping to final user training and adoption.
• Mission-Driven Work: Directly contribute to closing pay gaps by ensuring companies can actually use our tools to make fair and confident pay decisions.

Basic Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in technical leadership roles, preferably in Forward Deployed Engineering, Professional Services, or Technical Account Management.
• Proven technical depth: Hands-on experience with data ingestion, ETL processes, and working with complex data schemas (SQL, Python, or similar).
• Proficiency in AI prompt engineering to accelerate complex data implementations and architect creative workarounds for product exceptions or unique client edge cases.
• Client-Facing Excellence: A track record of managing high-stakes technical implementations for enterprise B2B clients.
• Strategic Thinking: Experience designing workflows that drive user adoption and “stickiness” within a SaaS platform.
• Project Management Mastery: Ability to manage a portfolio of implementations simultaneously, ensuring on-time delivery and high client satisfaction.
• Documentation & Governance: Strong habits in establishing best practices for implementation playbooks and technical documentation.

About You:

• You are a Problem Solver: You thrive on the ambiguity of client data and enjoy finding creative ways to map disparate systems into a unified platform.
• You are Customer-Obsessed: You believe a feature is only “finished” once the client is successfully using it to achieve their goals.
• You are a Strong Communicator: You can translate complex technical requirements for HR stakeholders while also speaking the language of core Engineering.
• You Value Partnership over Perfection: You assume positive intent and work collaboratively to find pragmatic solutions in stressful, fast-paced environments.
• You are Data-Driven: You use metrics to track implementation velocity, data accuracy, and user engagement.

Why you’ll love it here:

• Check out our Employee Experience page for more information on our Mission & Values, Work-Life Balance, Pay Transparency, Diversity, Culture, and Benefits.
• 💰 Competitive Compensation. For this role our salary is targeted at $160,000 -$200,000 CAD per year. Final offer amounts are determined by factors such as experience and expertise.
• 🏆 Syndio Equity. So you can share in Syndio’s success.
• 🏝 20 days PTO annually including paid Holidays. We encourage our team to recharge when they need to, plus paid sick & safe time, compassion leave, and voting leave.
• 🏦 Pension Contribution
• 📍 Remote First with opportunities for local meet-ups in Calgary, Alberta, Canada #LI-Remote

Role Progression:

In the 1st Month:

• Deep dive into the Syndio platform and the Syndi product vision.
• Understand our current Data Integration platform and Syndi’s setup configurations.
• Shadow existing client implementations to identify friction points in the onboarding process.
• Initiate a pilot to migrate our existing client data loading process into the new Implementation Platform leveraging new technology and Implementation artifacts.

At 3 Months:

• Take ownership and execute on the Data Ingestion migration for our existing client base. Implement the new Integration platform for 20% of our client base.
• Take full ownership of the Forward Deployed Engineering roadmap. Identify artifacts and tools required for optimizing client set up activities.
• Begin optimizing the “time-to-value” for new clients by refining data ingestion and configuration workflows.
• Establish clear KPIs for user adoption and process embedding.

By 6 Months:

• Scale the team to support our growing client base.
• Implement a repeatable, scalable framework for Syndi configuration and User Adoption that reduces manual intervention on both Client and Syndio’s side.
• Serve as a key contributor to the product roadmap, advocating for features that simplify the implementation lifecycle.
• Implement the new Integration platform solution in 70% of our client base.

The interview overview

Below you’ll find an outline of the interview plan for our Director of Forward Deployed Engineering position. Please note that this is what we expect the process to look like; we may ask you for supplemental information or require an additional step before making a final decision.

1. 30 min phone call with a member of our Talent Team.
2. 45-60 min Zoom deep dive with the Hiring Manager.
3. Technical/Strategic Evaluation (Presentation or case-study)
4. 45 min technical interview with a Senior Engineer or Product Leader.
5. 2-3 video interviews with key cross-functional partners (Customer Success, Product).

At Syndio, we’re building a diverse team that values candor, curiosity, and community. If you share these values and are interested in joining us, we’d love to talk with you even if you don’t 100% meet the “about you” listed here. We don’t expect anyone to have all the answers, as long as you’re willing to learn and grow with us.

Syndio is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are building an inclusive and collaborative workplace as we grow, and we welcome team members regardless of gender/identity, sexual orientation, race or cultural background, religion, physical disability and age.