> 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. # Forward Deployed Mission Strategist, Navy Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/31c0835d25642c66 Sitreps posts a FDE role to plan what the customer deploys first in San Diego, CA, at $165,000–$185,000 base, below the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,849 postings with pay. Embed with Navy users in San Diego to identify high-value operational problems and turn them into dependable AI-enabled tools on classified systems. Read from the employer’s posting on November 6, 2026. - [Sitreps](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/sitreps) Posted Oct 23, 2026 by Sitreps · open on Greenhouse as of Nov 6, 2026 **$165,000–$185,000** *annualized* + equity San Diego, CA On-site Full-time Embed with Navy users in San Diego to identify high-value operational problems and turn them into dependable AI-enabled tools on classified systems. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2F31c0835d25642c66&placement=top) - [View posting at Sitreps](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/sitrepsllc/jobs/4465102009) 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 $165K–$185K Below the median Midpoint $175K · median $190K This job $165K to $185K. Senior FDE postings, 1,849 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K. ### The work Plans what the customer deploys first Balance **Mostly building** Project stages 1. Pre-sales 2. Proof of concept 3. Implementation (not covered) 4. Operations - **Coding**: Configuration only - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Senior - **Role**: Technical lead ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting reads as a senior role. What level are you at now? The job is in San Diego, 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 Diego, CA - **Work arrangement**: On-site - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Pay**: ## More like this [Altana](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/altana) ### [ Staff AI Deployment Strategist ](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/4676a0bf140baee3) Brooklyn, NY · Washington, DC Hybrid 11d ago $165,000–$195,000 [Scale AI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/scale-ai) ### [Engagement Manager (Homeland Layered Defense), Public Sector](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/7c8c10267b57092d) Washington, DC 2mo ago $166,400–$208,000 [Fireworks AI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/fireworks-ai) ### [AI Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/80114d7fe0ad330e) San Mateo, CA Hybrid 2mo ago $165,000–$220,000 - [Other jobs at Sitreps (6)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/sitreps) ## The job description from Sitreps Posted by Sitreps on Oct 23, 2026 **Forward Deployed Mission Strategist, Navy** **Company:** Venture-backed defense AI software company (name disclosed upon mutual interest) **Location:** San Diego, California. In person, on site with Navy users most of the week. **Role Type:** Full-Time Employee **Clearance:** U.S. Person with an active Secret clearance at minimum (TS/SCI preferred) **Compensation:** $165,000–$185,000 base, plus equity **About the Client** Our client builds AI-enabled software for high-stakes U.S. military and national security missions. Its software is already in operational use across the armed services, and its people (engineers and product leaders included) work forward, side by side with the units that own the mission, rather than building from a distance. **About the Role** This is a forward-deployed role embedded with Navy users in San Diego, where the company's software is already in use. Most of your week will be spent at user sites and working on government networks. You will pinpoint the operational problems with the biggest payoff, frame them as hypotheses, and prove them in the product. A large share of the work is hands-on setup: designing AI agent workflows, prompts, databases, reports, and alerts on a classified platform, then refining them alongside users until they are dependable in live operations. The rest is new capability that you will scope and deliver together with the engineering team. It is common for you to lead a funded prototype from start to finish: operator discovery, sprint planning with engineers, building and testing on classified systems, demos for program leadership, and shaping what comes next. **This is not a typical customer success, solutions, or product job.** Some of the work is gritty, configurations can take many iterations, and problems are often unclear and shifting. You will work hand in hand with the Mission Leads, who manage the customer relationship and the route to a program of record, and with the platform engineers. Help is always available, but the call on where to focus is yours. **Responsibilities** - Spend time with sailors and civilians in operations centers, training commands, and fleet exercises, getting to know their day-to-day work closely enough to see the manual effort they have learned to live with. - Frame fuzzy problems as quick experiments that can be checked within days, and change course as the results come in. - Build and refine the prompts, AI agent workflows, data stores, reports, and dashboards that turn an operational problem into a usable tool, and confirm they work for real users doing real tasks. - Check new releases on classified systems, find what breaks, and hand engineers clear, repeatable bug reports. - Lead funded prototypes from the first discovery session to the closing demo, including sprint plans, government dependencies, and progress updates. - Put together fast demos and concepts that get new user groups excited about what the software can do. - Work with the Mission Leads and business development team on scope, pricing estimates, and the next phase of work. **Requirements** **Must-Haves** - Active Secret clearance at minimum (TS/SCI preferred) and U.S. Person status. - Living in the San Diego area, or open to moving there. The job is on site. - A background applying technology to tough operational challenges, whether as a product manager or engineer, or by bringing new tech into service in the military. - A history of making sense of open-ended problems and coming up with sharp hypotheses when there is no clear path. - Comfort with hands-on technical work: rewriting a prompt ten times and digging into why a configuration misbehaves until it works. - Genuine interest in agentic AI and putting it to work on practical problems. - A strong sense of ownership and the ability to work on your own. - Crisp writing, and the presence to work comfortably with both operators and senior officers. ### Nice-to-Haves - A Navy background, particularly in ISR, targeting, maritime ops, or unmanned systems. - Experience standing watch or working in an operations center. - Hands-on work with LLM tools, or some basic scripting. **Compensation & Benefits** Base salary is $165,000 to $185,000, plus equity. - Medical, dental, and vision insurance - 401(k) match - Unlimited PTO - Fully paid parental leave - Wellness and lifestyle stipends - Pay support during military reserve duty [View posting at Sitreps](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/sitrepsllc/jobs/4465102009) ## About Sitreps Veteran career platform combining recruiting, AI transition guidance, pay data, job discovery, and community for military-to-civilian career moves. Bootstrapped · 10–50 people ## Similar jobs [Eudia](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/eudia) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer - Eudia for Government](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/16a20fbf5fdf4a3f) Washington, DC Remote 3mo ago $160,000–$200,000 [Rivet Industries](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/rivet-industries) ### [Deployment Strategist, U.S. Navy](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/234898ba2cf7a604) Washington, DC On-site 2mo ago $140,000–$200,000 [Axle](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/axle) ### [Senior Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/1b61799977c4b0a1) New York, NY On-site 4mo ago $160,000–$200,000 [Conversion](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/conversion) ### [Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/7914d652b8187ed0) San Francisco, CA On-site 4w ago $150,000–$225,000 [Provectus](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/provectus) ### [Senior Product Owner | Forward Deployed AI Delivery (SF and NYC)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/b16f757cfe829232) San Francisco, CA · New York, NY Hybrid 3w ago $140,000–$180,000 - [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior) - [Similar jobs in San Diego](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=san-diego) - [Similar jobs that plan what the customer deploys first](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=strategist) Hiring at Sitreps and want this page changed or removed? Email info@nextmove.md and we take it down. Employer postings · [How we read postings](https://nextmove.md/fde/method)