> 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/c90e03bbf2ef439a

Chef Robotics posts a FDE role to integrate and configure the product in San Francisco, CA, at $130,000–$180,000 base, below the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,864 postings with pay. Own customer-facing technical work across the full deployment lifecycle for food-production robotics, from early feasibility through installation, production ramp, and ongoing success. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026.

- [Chef Robotics](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/chef-robotics)

Posted Jul 28, 2026 by Chef Robotics · open on Gem as of Nov 8, 2026

**$130,000–$180,000** San Francisco, CA Full-time

Own customer-facing technical work across the full deployment lifecycle for food-production robotics, from early feasibility through installation, production ramp, and ongoing success.

- [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2Fc90e03bbf2ef439a&placement=top)
- [View posting at Chef Robotics](https://jobs.gem.com/chef-robotics/am9icG9zdDpxjB19fklDRtDTWOGtkMlL)

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

$130K–$180K Below the median

Midpoint $155K · median $190K

This job $130K to $180K. Senior FDE postings, 1,864 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K.

### The work

Integrates and configures it

Balance **Mostly building**

Project stages

1. Pre-sales
2. Proof of concept (not covered)
3. Implementation
4. Operations

Travel **Up to 75%**

- **Coding**: Configuration only

- **Builds for**: External customers

- **Level**: Senior

- **Role**: Technical lead

### What they ask for

Experience

- **2+ years** applications engineering, solutions engineering, field robotics, or another customer-facing technical role

Background

- **Software engineering**
- **Solutions and customer engineering**

### Do you meet what the posting states?

The posting asks for 2+ years. How many do you have?

The posting reads as a senior 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

- **Employment type**: Full-time

- **Travel**: Up to 75%

- **Pay**:

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## The job description from Chef Robotics

Posted by Chef Robotics on Jul 28, 2026

Chef Robotics is the market leader in physical AI for the food industry — deploying AI-powered robots that solve one of the country's largest, most urgent labor shortages. Our fleet has produced over 110 million real meals across a dozen customer facilities in North America and Europe, for customers like Amy’s Kitchen, gategroup, and CookUnity, and every one of those meals trains our AI further. Backed by leading investors, we've proven the hardest part in robotics — real-world deployment at scale — and now we're looking for people who want to build what comes after.

### About the Role

We're hiring an Forward Deployed Engineer to be the vital link between our customers and our engineering teams — spanning the full customer journey from early technical evaluation through deployment, production ramp-up, and long-term success. You'll partner directly with customers to bring robotic systems online, troubleshoot in the field, and feed real-world insights back into our product roadmap.

This role is a rare blend of customer-facing, technical, and operational work, and it's a strong launchpad toward technical leadership or field engineering leadership as you grow with Chef.

### What You'll Do

- Partner with Sales during early customer engagements to assess needs and evaluate technical feasibility
- Work closely with customer engineering and operations teams to understand workflows, constraints, and success metrics
- Configure, test, and validate robotic systems in lab environments, adapting solutions to real-world production requirements
- Own and project-manage deployments end-to-end, coordinating across internal engineering, manufacturing, and customer teams
- Lead on-site installations, including system setup, qualification testing, and production ramp
- Troubleshoot and resolve field issues spanning software, configuration, and hardware break/fix
- Support customers post-deployment to drive adoption, ensure success, and surface expansion opportunities
- Translate customer feedback into actionable input for Product and Engineering

### Qualifications

- BS or MS in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
- Hands-on experience in robotics, automation systems, motion planning, perception, or controls
- Familiarity with Linux/Unix environments, ROS, and scripting in Python

### Experience

- 2+ years in applications engineering, solutions engineering, field robotics, or another customer-facing technical role
- Track record operating independently in dynamic, real-world environments

### Work Style & Logistics

- Strong communicator, comfortable working across technical and operational teams
- Highly organized, able to manage multiple concurrent projects and deployments
- Available for non-standard hours as needed (occasional nights, weekends, on-call)
- Able to travel up to 75% across North America for on-site deployments

### Nice-to-Haves

- Experience in food production, manufacturing, or another regulated production environment
- Exposure to electrical/CAD debugging or hardware-level troubleshooting
- Experience with Linux/Unix environments, ROS, and scripting in Python

### Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $130,000 – $180,000 per year.

Chef is an early-stage startup where equity is a major part of the compensation package. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

In addition to salary and early-stage equity, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, commuter benefits, flexible paid time off (PTO), catered lunch, and 401(k) matching.

[View posting at Chef Robotics](https://jobs.gem.com/chef-robotics/am9icG9zdDpxjB19fklDRtDTWOGtkMlL)

## About Chef Robotics

Builds AI-enabled robots and software that automate flexible meal assembly in food manufacturing, sold with deployment and service through a robotics-as-a-service model.

Series A

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- [Compare senior FDE salary ranges](https://nextmove.md/fde/salary/senior)
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