ABOUT THE ROLE

Branded Messaging is First Orion's A2P RCS messaging platform team. We're hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to own the technical thread end-to-end — from pre-sales support through production deployment. Pre-sales technical support runs through this function: you'll run discovery, demos, and proofs-of-concept alongside First Orion's shared commercial sellers, then embed with the customer to write integration code, build reference implementations, and ship branded messaging into production. It's a hands-on engineering role at the customer edge, where you're measured on both deals won and working deployments — not slideware.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own the technical thread across the full deal lifecycle — from pre-sales discovery and demos through production go-live and expansion — as the single Forward Deployed Engineer on the account

• Run pre-sales technical support alongside First Orion's shared commercial Sales Executives: deep-dive discovery, tailored product demos, live brand console walkthroughs, and end-to-end message rendering across devices

• Lead proof-of-concept engagements end-to-end — technical setup, success criteria, measurement, and sign-off — and author technical proposals, reference architectures, and RFP / security questionnaire responses

• Embed with enterprise customers post-sale as the technical owner of their Branded Messaging deployment, writing integration code and reference implementations against the aggregator API, brand verification flows, and sender onboarding

• Map customer messaging use cases to RCS capabilities (rich cards, carousels, suggested replies, verified sender) and stand up end-to-end proofs in the customer's own stack

• Debug live integration issues across webhooks, message rendering, and device families, partnering with Engineering on platform-level fixes

• Build reusable accelerators — sample apps, SDK snippets, deployment scripts, and runbooks — that shorten time-to-launch and de-risk the next deal

• Feed prioritized field gaps back to Product and Engineering with working repros and clear customer evidence

• Coach commercial Sales Executives and customer teams on Branded Messaging fundamentals so they can run early-stage qualification independently

YOU'LL LIKELY HAVE

• 4+ years in a hands-on forward deployed engineer, solutions / sales engineering, implementation, or integration engineering role in B2B SaaS — spanning customer-facing pre-sales and post-sale delivery, ideally in CPaaS, communications platform, or marketing technology

• Strong coding ability in at least one mainstream language (Python, TypeScript/Node, Go, Java, or similar) — you build and debug real integrations, not just diagrams

• Deep comfort with REST APIs end-to-end: reading docs, debugging webhook flows, writing example payloads, and shipping working client code

• Strong demo and discovery skills — able to run a live technical demo and scope requirements fluidly with both technical buyers (eng/IT) and business buyers (marketing, CX, fraud)

• Working knowledge of A2P messaging (SMS, MMS, or RCS); direct RCS experience is a strong plus

• Customer-facing presence — able to earn trust on-site and carry the relationship from first technical call through production

• Familiarity with one or more aggregator platforms (Twilio, Sinch, Infobip, Bandwidth) and integrating against them in production

• Comfortable operating in a small, fast-moving dedicated team inside a larger parent commercial org, owning ambiguous problems end-to-end

BONUS POINTS FOR

• Hands-on familiarity with RCS verification and the agent lifecycle (intent to launch, verification, scaling)

• Experience building customer-facing integrations or deploying software inside the customer's environment

• Working knowledge of TCPA, CTIA, or other messaging compliance frameworks

• Prior in-seat experience at a messaging API, CPaaS, or RCS-adjacent company

• Experience with brand identity / verified caller / trusted communications products (an adjacent First Orion domain)