Director of Forward Deployed Engineering

<div class="content-intro"><h2>About Vercel:</h2> <p><span data-sheets-root="1">Vercel is the agentic infrastructure company. We free people and agents to ship what’s next.</span></p> <p><span data-sheets-root="1">For more than a decade, Vercel has shaped how the web is built. As the team behind Next.js, v0, and AI SDK, we create products that help builders move from idea to production with speed, security, and exceptional developer experience.</span></p> <p><span data-sheets-root="1">Now, software is entering a new era, and the next generation of products will not just be used by people. They will be built, extended, and operated by agents.</span></p> <p><span data-sheets-root="1">We are building the platform for that future, trusted by companies like&nbsp;<strong>OpenAI, PayPal, Ramp, Supreme, and millions of developers worldwide</strong>. Whether you’re building our products, supporting our customers, growing our community, or shaping our story, you’ll help define what comes next.</span></p></div><h2>About the Role:</h2> <p>We are looking for a Director of Forward Deployed Engineering to build and lead Vercel's Forward Deployed Engineering and Professional Services function. Forward Deployed Engineers embed directly with our most strategic customers to design, build, and ship production applications on Vercel using Next.js, AI SDK, and v0, taking projects from first prototype through production rollout. You will define how this function operates: the engagement model, the delivery methodology, the commercial structure, and the team itself.</p> <p><strong>This is an in-person (hybrid) position that will require you to be based in San Francisco, Austin or New York, with a required 3 days per week in office.&nbsp;</strong></p> <h2>What You Will Do:</h2> <ul> <li>Build, lead, and develop the Forward Deployed Engineering team, including hiring standards, training, career development, and compensation.</li> <li>Define the engagement model: how engagements are scoped, staffed, sequenced, and measured, and which accounts qualify for embedded support.</li> <li>Own delivery excellence for strategic customer engagements, from discovery and technical scoping through production deployment and stabilization.</li> <li>Establish the commercial model for professional services, including packaging, pricing, capacity planning, and resource allocation across competing customer priorities.</li> <li>Stay hands-on where it matters: architecture reviews, system design, and unblocking critical engagements alongside your team.</li> <li>Define clear handoff protocols between Forward Deployed Engineering, Sales Engineering, Customer Success, and partn