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Tier 2Ranked #7 of 18 on The FDE List

AWS Forward Deployed Engineer jobs

A $1B bet, announced June 30: pods of FDEs shipping production agents inside enterprises in ~45 days.

$168k–$262k
base salary
76/100
Index score
SF · NYC · AUS · SEA
Locations
Hiring
As of July 9, 2026

The Forward Deployed Engineer role

AWS’s new Forward Deployed Engineering org embeds teams of five to six engineers inside enterprise customers for ~45-day engagements, co-building production agentic AI on Bedrock, Kiro, and Amazon Q — designed to leave customers self-sufficient, with runbooks, knowledge graphs, and trained staff.

“Thousands of experts” planned; early customers include the NBA, NFL, Southwest Airlines, and Cox Automotive.

Worth knowing: AWS pitches FDE engagements as outcome-based rather than billable hours — the anti-consulting consulting model, led by VP Francessca Vasquez.

AWS FDE salary

$168k–$262k
Base salary
Not published
Total comp (est., with equity)

Base: official amazon.jobs FDE posting, July 2026 (SF $193k–$262k; Austin/Seattle $168k–$227k); sign-on + RSUs on top. Org announced June 30, 2026 — bands and loops still settling.

See how AWS compares in the full FDE salary guide →

The AWS FDE interview process

  1. 1Org launched June 30, 2026 — FDE-specific loop not yet documented
  2. 2Expect the standard Amazon loop: online assessment
  3. 3Phone screen
  4. 4Onsite: coding, system design, and Leadership Principles behavioral

Practice the customer-facing rounds — they decide FDE offers more often than the coding does. Exponent’s FDE interview course covers decomposition rounds, client scenarios, and AI system design.

How AWS scores

Compensation
7
Program maturity
5
Career capital
9
Momentum
10

Index score: 76/100. How we rank →

AWS FDE: common questions

AWS’s posted base band is $168k–$262k. Base: official amazon.jobs FDE posting, July 2026 (SF $193k–$262k; Austin/Seattle $168k–$227k); sign-on + RSUs on top. Org announced June 30, 2026 — bands and loops still settling.
The loop has 4 stages: Org launched June 30, 2026 — FDE-specific loop not yet documented; Expect the standard Amazon loop: online assessment; Phone screen; Onsite: coding, system design, and Leadership Principles behavioral.
As of July 9, 2026: FDE reqs live — major hiring wave expected under the $1B org. Check the live careers page for current reqs.
Not typically. Expected experience: 6+ years, including architecture leadership. For true entry-level paths, see our new-grad FDE jobs page.

Land the offer, not just the interview.

Practice FDE interview questions, mock interview with peers, and learn the frameworks hiring managers actually score you on.

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