> AI agents: this is one page of Nextmove’s FDE site, in Markdown. Nextmove is a job board and free career service for forward deployed engineers (FDEs). Each posting is classified from its text, not its title: the kind of work, how much of it is production code, pre-sales weight, time at customer sites, travel, remote arrangement, level and posted base pay. The site also publishes the aggregates: median pay by level, metro, company and kind of work, and which companies started hiring FDEs each week. Every page under https://nextmove.md/fde is served this way; the index of pages is https://nextmove.md/llms.txt. # Deployment Leadership Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/2cf4f2be614e9158 Serval posts a FDE role to lead deployment teams in San Francisco, CA, at $250,000–$400,000 base, above the staff+ FDE median of $225,000 across 388 postings with pay. Leads Serval’s customer-facing deployment engineering function, owning complex enterprise implementations and pilots while turning field insights into product and engineering improvements. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [Serval](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/serval) Posted May 22, 2026 by Serval · open on Ashby as of Nov 8, 2026 **$250,000–$400,000** + equity San Francisco, CA On-site Full-time Leads Serval’s customer-facing deployment engineering function, owning complex enterprise implementations and pilots while turning field insights into product and engineering improvements. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2F2cf4f2be614e9158&placement=top) - [View posting at Serval](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Serval/9e529850-07ca-4317-817e-21630f63192e/application) Free. Upload your resume once, see why each FDE role fits, and get introduced only when you say so. ## At a glance ### Posted base pay $250K–$400K Above the median Midpoint $325K · median $225K This job $250K to $400K. Staff+ FDE postings, 388 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $197K to $262K, median $225K. ### The work Leads the deployment team Balance **Mixed** Project stages 1. Pre-sales (not covered) 2. Proof of concept 3. Implementation 4. Operations Travel **Required, amount not stated** - **Coding**: Writes production code - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Staff+ - **Role**: People manager ### What they ask for Experience - **7+ years** software engineering - **3+ years** technical or customer-facing team leadership Background - **Software engineering** - **Solutions and customer engineering** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 3+ years. How many do you have? The posting reads as a staff-level role. What level are you at now? The job is in San Francisco, CA. Could you work there? Which of these have you used in production? Answer each one. Nothing is saved or sent. [What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths) ## Conditions - **Location**: San Francisco, CA - **Work arrangement**: On-site - **Remote work restrictions**: Based in or willing to work from the San Francisco headquarters 5 days per week. - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Travel**: Travel required, amount not stated - **Pay**: ## More like this [Fieldguide](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/fieldguide) ### [Head of Deployed Engineering](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f2bf39c185070fc9) San Francisco, CA Remote 3w ago $240,000–$390,000 [Chalk](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/chalk) ### [Director, Forward Deployed Engineering](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/47c6797aead04cf6) San Francisco, CA On-site 2mo ago $300,000–$350,000 [Aircall](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/aircall) ### [Director, Forward Deployed Engineering & AI GTM](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/fc7f1d0479aa37c4) New York, NY · San Francisco, CA 3mo ago $200,000–$299,000 - [Other jobs at Serval (4)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/serval) ## The job description from Serval Posted by Serval on May 22, 2026 ### Who We Are Serval is the AI-native enterprise service management platform that automates the work legacy IT service management tools only track. Our AI agents build the automations that power employee support, then resolve requests against them instantly—helping teams across IT, HR, finance, legal, and beyond automate work within one governed platform. Companies including Fox, Live Nation, Notion, Ramp, and Lucid Motors run on Serval. Headquartered in San Francisco, we’ve raised $277 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, First Round, General Catalyst, and Elad Gil, most recently a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation. We’re building a team that moves quickly, takes ownership, and wants to make a meaningful impact on how the world’s largest organizations work. Come help us build what’s next for enterprise service management. ### Role Overview As a **Deployment Leader**, you’ll build and lead the team that sits closest to Serval’s customers — where product meets reality. You’ll own how we deploy Serval’s AI platform into complex IT environments, ensuring customers realize immediate value while feeding critical insights back into product and engineering. You’ll start as a hands-on technical leader — writing code, leading high-stakes pilots, and designing scalable onboarding processes — then grow a team of forward deployed engineers who blend software engineering, customer empathy, and systems thinking. This role is ideal for someone who’s operated at the intersection of **engineering and customer success**, thrives in ambiguity, and loves building zero-to-one technical teams in high-growth, AI-native startups. ### What You’ll Do - **Build and lead the Deployed Software Engineering function**, defining its charter, processes, and hiring plan. - **Own customer implementations and pilots**, ensuring rapid, reliable value delivery for strategic accounts. - **Write production-quality code** to extend Serval’s platform, integrate APIs, and solve unique customer challenges. - **Develop reusable onboarding frameworks**, turning bespoke deployments into repeatable, scalable patterns. - **Partner with Product & Engineering** to translate field learnings into roadmap priorities and platform improvements. - **Act as a trusted advisor to customers’ IT and Security leaders**, guiding them through automation design and rollout. - **Drive technical strategy for migrations**, integrations, and long-term account success. - **Recruit, mentor, and develop a world-class team** of forward deployed engineers who embody Serval’s pace and precision. - **Establish metrics and systems** to track deployment velocity, adoption, and satisfaction across accounts. ### What You’ll Need - **7–10+ years of software engineering experience**, with 3+ years leading technical or customer-facing teams. - Proven track record of **building and scaling Software Engineering teams** in a fast-paced SaaS or AI environment. - Strong technical foundation — capable of reading and writing production code, building APIs, and debugging distributed systems. - Experience working directly with enterprise customers on **deployments, integrations, and architecture design**. - Excellent communication skills — able to translate between technical and executive audiences. - **Builder’s mindset:** thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and creates process where none exists. - Deep customer empathy and the ability to balance short-term needs with long-term platform evolution. - **Based in or willing to work from our SF HQ**, 5 days/week, with occasional travel to customers. ### Nice to Have - Prior startup experience as an early technical or engineering leader. - Knowledge of IT, Security, or workflow automation domains. - Comfort working with LLM-based or AI agent systems in production. - Strong opinions on how “agentic” deployment teams should operate and measure success. ### What We Offer - **Impact**: Be a key player in shaping the success of our product and company. - **Growth**: Build a fundamentally new AI product offering with the support of our experienced team and investors. Grow rapidly with the company. - **Culture**: Join a culture that values innovation, ownership, accountability, and fun. [View posting at Serval](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Serval/9e529850-07ca-4317-817e-21630f63192e/application) ## About Serval AI-native ITSM platform for enterprises that automates help desk, access, onboarding, and workflows through auditable agents that build and run automations. Series B · 50–100 people ## Similar jobs [Doppel](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/doppel) ### [Deployment Lead, FDE (SF)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/07021125b53721b9) San Francisco, CA 6w ago $250,000–$315,000 [Assort Health](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/assort-health) ### [Head of Forward Deployed Engineering](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/1243f2ee18b869b6) San Francisco, CA Hybrid 2mo ago $210,000–$300,000 [Flow Engineering](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/flow-engineering) ### [Head of Forward Deployed Engineering](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/37ce06f2fc048cbe) San Francisco, CA On-site 6w ago $240,000–$300,000 [Amazon (incl AWS)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/amazon-incl-aws) ### [Director, Product Management — Forward Deployed Engineering, AWS Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f6e94d87514d5da3) East Palo Alto, CA · Boston, MA · +1 more 7w ago $237,500–$350,000 [Ironsite](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/ironsite) ### [Head of Field Applications](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/2b1a0715b67f2087) San Francisco, CA On-site 2mo ago $200,000–$300,000 - [Compare staff+ FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/staff) - [Similar jobs in SF Bay Area](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=sf-bay-area) - [Similar jobs that lead deployment teams](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=leadership) Hiring at Serval and want this page changed or removed? 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