Forward Deployed Engineer
You unblock a customer launching on Tavus’s real-time video, then build the product and keep it running.
- San Francisco, about 3 office days a week preferred. Strong remote candidates count
- Full time
- roughly $180k to $230k in total compensation
This job is open.
Jack works for you and is free. Hiring companies pay us.
Jack’s take. Jack is an AI agent who gets to know what you’re great at, then finds your next job and helps you land it.
“I’d call this a builder’s job. They’re hiring two more people onto a small team.”
Who it suits
A good fit
- like finding the real reason a customer is stuck, then shipping the fix
- want to own a product a customer’s users depend on
- like pushing back when a customer’s approach isn’t the right one
Think twice
- want the work to stop once the question is answered
- don’t want to own a product after launch
- need a fully specified design before you build
The job
What you’d do
- You dig into what’s blocking a customer and ship the fix, the feature, or the API change yourself.
- You prototype real-time video experiences nobody has asked for yet.
- You might own the experience, the architecture, the application code, the Tavus integration, and the deployment.
- You stay after launch so what you built stays reliable.
What they ask for
- You’re comfortable with AI and LLMs, real-time systems, video, or APIs.
- You can push back on a customer’s approach and then build the better one.
- You’re comfortable going from a blank page to something real people depend on.
- You can build a working product yourself.
How it works
- The same posting is also hiring in London.
What to know about this job
Open at least 19 weeks. Half of San Francisco FDE jobs have closed by week 12.
- Week 12Half of San Francisco FDE jobs have closed
- Week 19This job has been open this long
In November 2026, Tavus had 1 forward deployed engineer job open, in San Francisco.
The builder, the most common kind of FDE in San Francisco
- 56%The builder (this job). This kind ships production code into the customer’s systems, including integrations, data pipelines, and agents.
- 40%The deployment lead. Scopes the customer’s problem, runs the rollout and makes sure the product delivers what was promised.
Shares of open FDE jobs in San Francisco.
Most new San Francisco forward deployed engineers weren’t forward deployed engineers before
- 90% of people who became forward deployed engineers in San Francisco weren’t forward deployed engineers in their last job.
- 46% of them came from a startup or scale-up.
Tavus lists roughly $180k to $230k in total compensation for this job
The San Francisco forward deployed engineer guide shows what forward deployed engineers in San Francisco expect to earn.
What San Francisco forward deployed engineers earnWorth asking the hiring team
- “How often have people in this role worked fully remote?”
- “What does hiring in London on this same posting change for you?”
Jack’s take on Tavus
- Developers and businesses using it grew from 100,000 to 150,000 in 11 months
- Its three announced rounds raised $64M, with Sequoia, Scale Venture Partners and CRV each leading one
- The team doubled to about 100 people in a year
- Its two cofounders run it, and it hired heads of research, design and sales in 2025
- Most roles are in its San Francisco office
- Based in San Francisco, London and Munich
- Founded 2020
- 19 open jobs
Similar jobs in San Francisco
Other open jobs at in-demand startups.
About this page
Jack & Jill isn’t Tavus’s recruiter. We summarized this job from Tavus’s public careers page, where you can apply. We check whether it’s still open each time you open this page. The market numbers come from our San Francisco forward deployed engineer guide and the company facts from Tavus’s page. We last checked this summary against the posting on November 9, 2026. Jack’s take is Jack & Jill’s own.