Chalk
1 open Forward Deployed Engineer role at Chalk. Curated with comp bands.
Comp on the board: $170K–$280K.
On the board since Aug 2026 · still hiring
Our take
Why Chalk
A Series A “data platform for inference” seat where FDEs stand up real-time feature pipelines inside fraud, lending, and energy customers — and a wide band signals per-deployment ownership, not a support queue.
- FDE type
- True forward-deployed
- Travel
- Medium
- Comp
- Competitive
- Stage
- Early-stage
A good fit if you're…
- Data-infra engineers who want to own feature pipelines end-to-end, not configure a product
- People comfortable in regulated, latency-sensitive verticals (fraud, fintech, energy)
- Builders drawn to Python-to-C++/Rust compute and real-time inference problems
- Early-stage engineers who want scope over settled process
What Chalk builds
Chalk calls itself “the data platform for inference” — the layer that delivers fresh data and heavy computation at prediction time, so models score against live features instead of stale tables. Its Compute Engine lets teams write features in Python that compile into high-performance C++ and Rust pipelines; its LLM Toolchain unifies structured and unstructured data with vector storage and automated evals. Founded in 2022, it's used by Socure, Doppel, Sunrun, Whatnot, and MoneyLion.
What “forward deployed” means here
This is build-side FDE work. You write production feature pipelines against a customer's real data — fraud detection, credit decisioning, recommendations — not demoing a finished product. Doppel, for instance, runs a Chalk pipeline that turns HTML, URLs, and screenshots into structured features for an LLM. On a team this early, each FDE effectively owns a deployment, so the surface area is large and the guardrails are thin — genuinely technical data engineering, not light configuration.
The customers tell you the job
Chalk's named customers cluster in regulated, real-time, high-stakes decisioning: Socure (identity and fraud), Doppel (digital-threat detection), Sunrun (residential solar), MoneyLion (consumer finance), and Whatnot (live commerce). That mix is a durability signal — those are sticky, data-heavy accounts that don't rip out feature infrastructure casually — and it tells you the deployment work happens in latency- and compliance-sensitive environments, where getting the data right actually matters.
Comp & leveling
The board shows $170K–$280K. A band that wide on a Series A is the tell: leveling is unsettled, and the top of the range is reserved for engineers who can run a deployment with little oversight. Chalk raised a $50M Series A in May 2025 at a $500M valuation (led by Felicis), so expect meaningful equity at a real-but-not-frontier valuation alongside the cash. One live FDE seat means a small, early team.
The founders and the money
Chalk's founders come from exactly the places this platform targets: CEO Marc Freed-Finnegan helped launch Google Wallet and sold Index to Stripe; co-founders Elliot Marx and Andrew Moreland worked on large-scale data at Affirm and Palantir and sold Haven Money to Credit Karma. The $50M round put Felicis's Aydin Senkut on the board, with General Catalyst, Unusual Ventures, and Xfund also in. Total raised is over $60M.
Who thrives, who bounces
Thrives: data-infrastructure engineers who want to own a deployment inside a demanding customer and are comfortable joining before the FDE motion is proven. Bounces: anyone wanting a settled playbook, a large peer bench, or frontier-lab comp. A single live FDE seat on a fresh Series A means this is an early bet — real customers and real revenue signals, but an org still being built.
Questions candidates ask
Is this a data-engineering job or a solutions job?
Data engineering. You write production feature pipelines against customers' real data (Python compiling to C++/Rust), not configure a finished product — it's build-side FDE work.
What does it pay?
The board shows $170K–$280K. The wide band on a Series A means leveling is unsettled and the top is for engineers who can run a deployment solo; expect meaningful equity too.
How established is Chalk?
Series A. It raised $50M at a $500M valuation in May 2025 (led by Felicis), total funding past $60M, with customers like Socure, Doppel, and Sunrun. Early, but with real customers.
What kind of customers would I deploy into?
Regulated, real-time decisioning shops — fraud/identity (Socure), threat detection (Doppel), solar (Sunrun), consumer finance (MoneyLion). Latency- and compliance-sensitive data work.
Analysis updated 2026-10-14
Open roles at Chalk
Compare Chalk
Head-to-head
Others in the same tier
Free forever. Unsubscribe anytime.