This role pays more than
50%
of similar roles. Most pay
$150,499–$216,656
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$177k
versus about
$184k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology leader producing software, hardware, and cloud services including Windows, Office 365, Azure cloud platform, Xbox gaming, and Surface devices. Industry: Software & Cloud Computing
Microsoft currently has
633 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$119,800–$234,700
across 621 roles with salary data.
Senior Forward Deployed Engineer joins the Windows Platform and Developers organization as part of a founding team defining engagement models for developer platforms. This role involves embedding with strategic partners to identify technical blockers, designing automation, and implementing production-ready solutions within customer environments. The engineer serves as an authority on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), containers, virtualization, and build performance while navigating enterprise security and identity controls. Day-to-day tasks include building provisioning logic, creating configuration baselines, and translating customer feedback into product improvements for the Windows team. Candidates must possess proficiency in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python. The role addresses the challenge of ensuring developer productivity on Windows by resolving friction points in toolchains and infrastructure to ensure successful adoption of production workloads across diverse enterprise environments.
What does a Forward Deployed Engineer earn?
Median $201250 from 49 postings across 23 companies.
Embed with customer engineering teams to identify technical blockers and define success measures for Windows adoption.
Design and implement production-ready automation, configuration logic, and reference implementations within customer environments.
Act as a subject matter expert on WSL, containerization, and developer toolchain performance at enterprise scale.
Diagnose and resolve friction points in platform configuration, security policies, and identity controls that hinder developer productivity.
Provide technical evidence to product teams to drive improvements in Windows, WSL, and related developer tools.
Convert recurring customer challenges into scalable playbooks, reference configurations, and internal training materials.
Build and maintain relationships with customer technical leaders to ensure successful migration of workloads to Windows.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field and 4+ years of engineering experience in languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, or Python (or equivalent experience).
Ability to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check.
Deep hands-on experience with developer platforms across Windows, Linux, and macOS (preferred).
Experience with WSL, containers, virtualization, provisioning, configuration management, and CI/CD (preferred).
Experience with enterprise controls such as endpoint security, identity, and network policy (preferred).
Experience in customer-facing engineering roles like field engineering or technical consulting (preferred).
Experience diagnosing performance issues using telemetry, traces, profiling, or Windows Performance Analyzer (preferred).
Solid programming and automation ability to ship production-quality tooling rather than one-off scripts (preferred).
C#
Python
JavaScript
C++
C
Azure
Azure DevOps
CI/CD
Kusto
KQL
MSBuild
Bazel
Distributed Systems
BuildXL
Application Insights
Azure Data Explorer
Telemetry
Automation
Microsoft Intune
Windows Autopilot
Windows
PowerShell
Python
C#
C++
Java
JavaScript
Microsoft Configuration Manager
Microsoft Graph
Automation
Telemetry
Endpoint Security
Configuration Management
Device Provisioning
Cloud-native Management
Windows Update for Business
C#
C++
TypeScript
WinUI
WebView2
Windows OS APIs
COM
WinRT
NT Services
Microsoft Entra ID
MSAL
WAM
RDP
VDI
Python
Java
JavaScript
Telemetry-driven development