Forward Deployed Engineer

Socket helps devs and security teams ship faster by cutting out security busywork. Thousands of orgs use Socket to safely find, audit, and manage open source code. Our customers — from Anthropic to xAI, and Figma to Vercel — love Socket (just check out their tweets to see for yourself!)

Founded by Feross Aboukhadijeh, a long-time open source maintainer with software downloaded over a billion times a month, Socket has raised $65M in funding from top angels, operators, and security leaders.

We're looking for a high-performing Forward Deployed Engineer to serve as the technical bridge between Socket's enterprise customers and our engineering teams. In this role, you'll combine your software development expertise with exceptional customer skills to drive successful implementations, write custom code, and build the foundation for our professional services offering. You'll play a critical role in ensuring our largest customers achieve maximum value from Socket's security platform while helping shape the future of our technical services.

This role is remote with 20-30% travel required for customer onsite engagements.

• Serve as the primary technical advisor and trusted expert for 5-8 enterprise accounts.

• Write custom code, scripts, and integrations to solve complex customer implementation challenges.

• Lead technical onboarding sessions, training workshops, and hands-on implementation guidance.

• Develop custom SAST rules, CVE rules, and security policies tailored to customer environments.

• Coordinate seamless technical rollouts and integrations across complex enterprise environments.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with customer engineering teams and security stakeholders.

• Create standardized technical documentation, best practices guides, and reusable implementation playbooks.

• Facilitate communication between customers and internal product teams, translating feedback into actionable insights.

• Conduct on-site technical engagements including security assessments, alert optimization, and advanced configuration.

• Review and optimize customer alert configurations, reducing noise and improving security coverage.

• Anticipate technical challenges and proactively develop solutions that drive product adoption and customer success.

• Support the development of billable professional services offerings and advanced technical consulting.

• 3+ years of software development experience with strong coding skills in TypeScript, JavaScript, or Python.

• Proven track record building integrations, APIs, webhook implementations, and automation scripts in production environments.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills with natural ability to explain complex technical concepts.

• A customer-first mindset — you genuinely enjoy solving problems for clients and building lasting relationships.

• Strong understanding of modern development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps practices.

• Knowledge of security tools, vulnerability management, and software composition analysis preferred.

• Experience with open source ecosystems and supply chain security concepts.

• Comfortable with travel and on-site customer engagements as the face of Socket's technical expertise.

• Experience with scripting and automation for DevOps or security use cases.

Interview Process:

1. Informational with a member of our Talent Team

2. Virtual f2f with the Hiring Manager

3. Virtual f2f with a Peer

4. Take-home problem & brief presentation of your work

5. Internal Debrief

6. Final Interview with our CEO, Feross

7. References

8. Decision/Offer

The reasonably estimated annualized salary for this role ranges from $125,000-$200,000, plus a competitive equity package and other benefits. Actual compensation is based on the candidate's skills assessed in the interview process, qualifications, and experience.

As we know how important clarity is when looking for a new role, we've put together a read-me about the Interview Process at Socket, should you be invited for an interview.

1. Pursue Excellence: We set ourselves apart by consistently delivering work of exceptional quality and distinction.

2. Move with urgency and focus: We prioritize swift, decisive action.

3. Think rigorously: We care about being right and it often takes reasoning from first principles to get there. We value alternative perspectives and have constructive discussions.

4. Trust and amplify: We overtrust, always assume good intent, and give specific feedback to help each other improve.

5. Feel a strong sense of ownership: We wear many hats and feel a strong sense of overall ownership of the company and we're non-territorial regarding our nominal domains.

6. Are customer obsessed: We relentlessly prioritize the needs of our customers, striving to exceed their expectations and delight them at every interaction.