Description

About the Role

The Product Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team is Salesforce's zero-to-one engine for new data product innovation. We embed directly with our most strategic customers to validate emerging Data 360 capabilities, harden the platform under real-world conditions, and transform every field insight into repeatable patterns that shape the product roadmap.

As a Senior Manager of Forward Deployed Engineers – Data 360, you will lead high-performing teams delivering enterprise-scale data transformations powered by Salesforce Data 360. You will combine people leadership, data architecture governance, operational excellence, and strategic growth ownership.

Most technical roles ask you to implement what already exists. This role asks you to define what comes next. You'll work with Data 360 features before they're named, solve data challenges before there are playbooks, and build the artifacts that the rest of the field will use for years. Your work doesn't just help one customer — it hardens the Data 360 platform for every customer that comes after.

The ideal candidate brings high agency and self-motivation to ambiguous, high-stakes environments. You thrive when there's no established answer, move fast without losing rigor, and treat every customer engagement as a learning opportunity that makes the platform better for everyone. You're endlessly curious, quick to adapt, and energized by data problems that haven't been solved yet.

Your Impact

Research & Field Validation

Deploy and stress-test pilot Data 360 features with customers, identifying platform gaps and feeding structured findings back to Technology & Product
Conduct feasibility research on novel data unification and activation use cases — determining what's possible, what's not, and what needs to change in the product to get there
Co-develop hypotheses with Technology & Product and design experiments to validate them in the field
Document and escalate critical engineering issues with detailed evidence packages to accelerate resolution

Customer Engagement

Lead technical engagement of new Data 360 products and features
Embed directly with customer teams to deeply understand their data environment and architect solutions that solve real data challenges at enterprise scale
Run rapid prototyping and POC cycles to validate data ingestion, unification, segmentation, and activation use cases
Serve as the primary technical advisor and escalation point for your customer portfolio

Product Acceleration & Feedback

Build reusable accelerators, playbooks, and reference architectures that address critical Data 360 product gaps and directly shape the platform roadmap
Partner directly with Product Managers and Engineers to influence roadmap priorities based on evidence captured directly from customers
Represent the voice of the customer in internal product discussions and planning cycles
Analyze competitive landscape to identify and validate Salesforce Data 360's key differentiators — informing both field engagements and product feedback loops
Produce thought leadership, best practices, and enablement content that raises the bar for new Data 360 releases across the Salesforce community

Field R&D Engagement

Support qualifying R&D activities in collaboration with Engineering; contribute to hardening agentic Data 360 products at enterprise scale
Drive reusable IP creation — solution patterns, technical blueprints, and implementation guides — that accelerate field adoption of Data 360

Required Qualifications

12+ years of hands-on engagement in enterprise software or SaaS environments, with a strong foundation in data platforms and Salesforce ecosystem
At least 5 years of experience in people management roles
Demonstrated experience deploying enterprise data solutions — including data unification, identity resolution, segmentation, and real-time activation
Deep hands-on expertise in Salesforce Data 360 — including data ingestion, data modeling, calculated insights, and activation frameworks
Advanced proficiency in data architecture concepts: data lakes, data warehouses, lakehouse patterns, and CDP/MDM platforms
Experience designing and governing enterprise data integration architectures using REST/GraphQL APIs, event-driven patterns, and middleware platforms
Establish enterprise data governance frameworks: data quality, enrichment, privacy, retention, and compliance
Translate business requirements into scalable data architecture, solution blueprints, and phased implementation roadmaps
Lead architecture risk assessments, data performance impact analysis, and serve as escalation authority for complex data issues
Data 360 delivery: Experience in at least 2 end-to-end Data 360 implementations with involvement in discovery, solution design, implementation, rollout, and defining the customer roadmap for enhancements
Hands-on working knowledge across Data 360 capabilities including: data ingestion & unification, identity resolution, calculated insights, segmentation, activation, and data sharing
Strong diagnostic and problem decomposition instincts — able to pinpoint whether a failure is a product bug, a configuration error, or a data quality issue, even in low-documentation environments
Exceptional written communication skills: able to document builds, failures, and field observations in structured form that Product & Engineering can act on without a follow-up call
Certifications: Salesforce Data 360 Consultant, Platform Developer I, Salesforce Administrator
Work Location: Hybrid

Preferred Qualifications

Prior experience in a forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or embedded technical advisory role
Experience with Salesforce Agentforce platform and AI-driven data activation use cases
Deep expertise in enterprise data architecture, security, and integrations — including identity resolution, consent management, and data privacy frameworks
Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Python, SQL, Apex, or Java)
Experience with product telemetry and observability analysis to identify data platform patterns and surface actionable insights
Familiarity with cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, Google BigQuery, or AWS Redshift and integration patterns with Salesforce Data 360
High agency, self-motivation, and agility quotient — you thrive in ambiguous, high-stakes environments, operate without a playbook, and default to experimentation and fast iteration over certainty
Certifications: Salesforce System or Application Architect, Marketing Cloud Consultant