> 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 Engineer Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/5fbbf612e42da5ce Sainapse posts a FDE role to build what the customer runs in San Francisco, CA, at $120,000–$140,000 base, below the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,864 postings with pay. Own end-to-end deployment of AI workflows for strategic enterprise customers, from scoped POCs through integrations, rigorous evaluation, production launch, and early expansion. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [Sainapse](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/sainapse) Posted Sep 10, 2026 by Sainapse · open on Ashby as of Nov 8, 2026 **$120,000–$140,000** San Francisco, CA On-site Full-time Own end-to-end deployment of AI workflows for strategic enterprise customers, from scoped POCs through integrations, rigorous evaluation, production launch, and early expansion. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2F5fbbf612e42da5ce&placement=top) - [View posting at Sainapse](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sainapse/1007912c-d47d-4b76-97fb-dba8ba191758/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 $120K–$140K Below the median Midpoint $130K · median $190K This job $120K to $140K. Senior FDE postings, 1,864 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K. ### The work Builds what the customer runs Balance **Mostly building** 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**: Senior - **Role**: Individual contributor ### What they ask for Visa - **No visa sponsorship** ### 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 Francisco, CA. Could you work there? The posting says no visa sponsorship. Do you need one? 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 - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Visa sponsorship**: Not available - **Travel**: Travel required, amount not stated - **Pay**: ## More like this [Salesforce](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/salesforce) ### [Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) (Mid/Senior Level)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/2a5e1855e6916121) San Francisco, CA · Seattle, WA · +8 more Remote 4mo ago $88,970–$198,170 [Accenture](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/accenture) ### [Palantir Forward Deployed Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/603238d92737226e) Chicago, IL · Milwaukee, WI · +39 more 2mo ago $54,400–$235,100 [Tread](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/tread) ### [AI-Native Forward Deployed Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/b6274401bfc0df20) San Francisco, CA On-site 3mo ago $120,000–$160,000 ## The job description from Sainapse Posted by Sainapse on Sep 10, 2026 ### U.S. citizenship required. Visa sponsorship is not available. **Location:** San Francisco, in person; travel to customer sites as needed **Type:** Full time ### The role Sainapse runs inside high-stakes customer workflows. Getting from a promising use case to production requires more than configuration: someone has to understand the process, map the systems, build the integrations, prove quality, manage launch risk, and turn what was learned into a better product. As a Forward Deployed Engineer, you will own that path for strategic customers—from an agreed POC scope through hands-on delivery, evaluation, production launch, and early expansion. ### What you’ll do - Embed with customer operations and technical teams to understand the real workflow, not only the stated requirements. - Translate ambiguous needs into architecture, milestones, success metrics, risks, and launch criteria. - Build and debug integrations across helpdesks, CRMs, ERPs, APIs, identity systems, data stores, and customer infrastructure. - Configure and extend AI workflows, retrieval, tools, guardrails, and human escalation. - Execute agreed evaluations and operational readiness plans covering quality, observability, rollback, security, and sign-off. Coordinate UAT, shadow or copilot operation, and a controlled production ramp. - Communicate clearly with frontline operators, engineering teams, executives, and internal stakeholders. - Identify repeated customer needs and turn them into reusable code, templates, documentation, and product proposals. ### What we look for - Production software-engineering ability in Python, TypeScript, or a comparable language. - Experience with APIs, webhooks, authentication, data mapping, retries, logging, and operational debugging. - Customer-facing technical delivery experience—or strong evidence you can build trust while staying hands-on. - Practical knowledge of LLM systems, retrieval, tool use, evaluation, and failure modes. - Ability to push back when scope is unsafe, make trade-offs explicit, and still keep the deployment moving. - Willingness to travel when being in the room materially improves the outcome. ### What success looks like Customers reach production with measurable outcomes and trust the system because the launch was rigorous. Each deployment makes the platform easier to deploy the next time. ### How you’ll work with the team You own execution of scoped POCs, customer integrations, evaluation, deployment, UAT, and controlled production rollout. Solutions Engineering leads pre-sale discovery and POC design. Agree scope, access owners, scoring criteria, dependencies, and the commercial path before delivery begins. Hand operational scope, baselines, known issues, and customer commitments to Customer Success after launch. ### About Sainapse Sainapse builds agent-first software for customer operations, helping teams resolve work across the systems they already use. Our production work includes customer-support automation and document and order workflows, with configurable levels of autonomy and human review. We are also building account-intelligence capabilities that connect customer signals across systems. You will help turn hands-on enterprise delivery into more repeatable software, stronger evaluation, and easier deployment. We are a small team with broad individual ownership. We value first-principles thinking, direct communication, thoughtful use of AI tools, and evidence of customer impact. You will work closely with founders and colleagues across product, engineering, and customer delivery. [View posting at Sainapse](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sainapse/1007912c-d47d-4b76-97fb-dba8ba191758/application) ## Similar jobs [Observe.AI](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/observe-ai) ### [AI Agent Engineer, Client Facing](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/fcdedb65d7c5b453) Redwood City, CA Hybrid 4mo ago $108,000–$170,000 [Charta Health](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/charta-health) ### [Forward Deployed AI Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/80d4db23176c6e8d) San Francisco, CA · New York, NY On-site 3mo ago $90,000–$140,000 [SpaceX](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/spacex) ### [Operations Engineer (Starshield Products)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/37db35ee2b38bbf5) Palo Alto, CA 2w ago $110,000–$175,000 [Blue Matter](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/blue-matter) ### [AI Engineer / Senior AI Engineer](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/3b3fb597face2eac) South San Francisco, CA 2w ago $120,000–$170,000 [AiPrise](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/aiprise) ### [Bilingual Forward Deployed Engineer (English/Spanish)](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/7ea1eef0aa28380f) San Jose, CA On-site 1mo ago $115,000–$130,000 - [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior) - [Similar jobs in SF Bay Area](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?region=sf-bay-area) - [Similar jobs that build what the customer runs](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=builds-for-customers) Hiring at Sainapse and want this page changed or removed? 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