> 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 Strategist Canonical URL: https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/fc9099f16c8dfd11 Usul posts a FDE role to plan what the customer deploys first in San Francisco, CA and 1 more, at $140,000–$200,000 base, below the senior FDE median of $190,000 across 1,864 postings with pay. Own post-sale deployments and account growth for major defense and space companies, while also running government contract capture for AI companies through Usul’s services business. Read from the employer’s posting on November 8, 2026. - [Usul](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/usul) Posted Jul 22, 2026 by Usul · open on Ashby as of Nov 8, 2026 **$140,000–$200,000** San Francisco, CA +1 On-site Full-time Own post-sale deployments and account growth for major defense and space companies, while also running government contract capture for AI companies through Usul’s services business. - [See roles that fit me](https://nextmove.md/sign-up?from=%2Ffde%2Fjobs%2Ffc9099f16c8dfd11&placement=top) - [View posting at Usul](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/usul/924ff560-cec5-44a1-9b6c-85074bffa2e2/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 $140K–$200K Below the median Midpoint $170K · median $190K This job $140K to $200K. Senior FDE postings, 1,864 postings: the middle 50% of posted pay is $160K to $220K, median $190K. ### The work Plans what the customer deploys first Balance **Mostly pre-sales or support** Project stages 1. Pre-sales 2. Proof of concept (not covered) 3. Implementation 4. Operations Travel **Required, amount not stated** - **Builds for**: External customers - **Level**: Senior - **Role**: Technical lead ### What they ask for Experience - **1+ years** consulting/strategy experience with big, old industries - **3+ years** consulting/strategy experience with big, old industries Background - **Consulting** Tools - **AI** ### Do you meet what the posting states? The posting asks for 1+ 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 · Washington, DC. Could you work in one of these? Answer each one. Nothing is saved or sent. [What postings ask for, by background →](https://nextmove.md/fde/paths) ## Conditions - **Location**: San Francisco, CA · Washington, DC - **Work arrangement**: On-site - **Employment type**: Full-time - **Travel**: Travel required, amount not stated - **Pay**: ## More like this [Endeavor](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/endeavor) ### [Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/f8f52f3f7c8a63bd) Chicago, IL On-site 3mo ago $125,000–$225,000 [Pryzm](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/pryzm) ### [Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/cf66bd8d122782a3) Washington, DC On-site 5mo ago $100,000–$140,000 [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 - [Other jobs at Usul (1)](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/usul) ## The job description from Usul Posted by Usul on Jul 22, 2026 ### About Usul Usul is a Silicon Valley AI lab helping America and its allies buy technology at the speed of Amazon Prime. We're Stanford dropouts, MIT AI scientists, and Tier-1 Special Forces Operators dedicating our lives to rebuilding the infrastructure that equips the Western world. We’re the youngest founders to ever win a US Defense contract. Over the past year, we’ve helped Global 500 companies including RTX, BAE Systems, Palantir and frontier AI labs win $12B in contracts across 30 NATO nations. ### We are looking for an entrepreneurial operator to own our customer deployments. One day you will be leading the pilot roll out for a tier 1 defense prime, the next you’ll be running around San Francisco helping AI companies win their first drop of government revenue. You will have a figure it out mindset willing to hustle to reform the current way products get sold into the government and diversify the Allied industrial base. ### What you’ll do: - Serve as the deployment lead of Usul for a portfolio of some of the largest and fastest growing defense and space companies in the world, owning all post-sale relationships from onboarding/training, enterprise adoption, expansion and renewals. - Run the capture process for AI companies for our Services business: coordinating with consultants and government affairs to help carve a path for commercial rocketship companies to expand into the government. - Coordinate complex product onboarding paths from defense-tech startups building in their garage to Fortune 500 companies with thousands of employees ensuring every single user maximizes Usul’s value to transform the way they win defense contracts. - Lead commercial upsell/cross-sell expansions within every account. - Own customer health using metrics on your accounts to increase retention, reduce churn and close renewals. - Collaborate with Sales, Product and Engineering directly influencing our product roadmap and path to revolutionizing how every allied government and defense company interact. ### What we look for: - 1-3 years of consulting/strategy experience with big, old industries. You know how to navigate these rooms of C suites and pitch ROI. (McKinsey, Bain, BCG preferred) - Defense contract experience. You've worked on proposals or understand how the process works. - Crazy high agency and ability to context switch extremely fast. - Willingness to travel 1-2 times per month for client engagements. - Entrepreneurial experience and mindset - you are excited about building things from scratch and are able to identify issues and execute quickly. - High EQ. - In office forward - we move insanely fast 5 days per week in San Francisco or DC. [View posting at Usul](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/usul/924ff560-cec5-44a1-9b6c-85074bffa2e2/application) ## About Usul AI software and services help companies identify, pursue, and win government contracts across the United States and allied markets. 10–50 people ## Similar jobs [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 [Afresh](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/afresh) ### [Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/1960ef4a20e750b6) San Francisco, CA Remote 7w ago $171,200–$256,800 · OTE [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 [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 [GovSignals](https://nextmove.md/fde/companies/govsignals) ### [Senior Federal Deployment Strategist](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs/b12521324312a352) Washington, DC Hybrid 4w ago $140,000–$200,000 - [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 plan what the customer deploys first](https://nextmove.md/fde/jobs?role=strategist) Hiring at Usul 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)