--- title: 'Forward Deployed Engineer at SalesPatriot' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-salespatriot-san-francisco-b3ym3bm3vn3g' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-08' --- # Forward Deployed Engineer at SalesPatriot - **Company:** SalesPatriot - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Compensation:** $150k–$220k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-05-25 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/SalesPatriot/53626ad9-af69-4ee1-a947-ba2ef4a433a7 ## Job description The Mission America's industrial base runs on systems built in the 1980s. Billions of dollars in critical components (F-35 parts, industrial assemblies, electronics, bolts, and hoses) still move through email threads, excel sheets, and disconnected ERPs. We're replacing that with an AI-native platform that makes aerospace, electronics, industrial, and defense supply-chain operations nearly autonomous. Faster quoting. Faster procurement. Full visibility. Real operational intelligence for the companies our nation depends on. Quick Facts - YC W25 company. Top 5% growth in batch - Raised $10M+ from investors including Paul Graham, SV Angel, Pear VC, and CRV - Team of 20 co-live in our Warsaw & SF Hacker Houses - 7 figure ARR transacting ~$50M a week through our system The Job - Go. Fly out and plant yourself inside the customer's operation. Weekdays are onsite (Wisconsin, New York, Miami, Los Angeles); weekends we regroup at the SF HQ to debrief and keep building. - Understand. Map how the company actually operates, from sales and supply chain teams to executives and CEOs. Learn the breakpoints choking their growth and speed. - Implement. Configure automations within SP Studio tooling so the platform accurately reflects the customer's needs. Build trust and confidence in SalesPatriot. - Iterate. Take ownership of customer implementation under the Lead FDE's guidance, learning how to scale impact. Keep finding and killing their most pressing problems, leading org-wide scaling, until SalesPatriot is the operating system their business runs on. Work closely with your Lead FDE to navigate customer strategy, escalations, and org-wide issues. ## What We’re Looking For - New grads welcome. What matters is that you've built and shipped things, so bring at least one full-stack project you can show us (GitHub repo, web app, or Loom demo). - Strong in TypeScript and at least one frontend framework (React, Svelte, Next, etc). Comfortable with SQL, preferably Postgres. - You want to learn the job from an experienced Lead FDE and grow into running your own customer implementations. - Personable. You can sit with a procurement team, ask good questions, and come back with something that works. Customers look forward to your updates. - Comfortable with ambiguity. The problem you solve on Tuesday may not be the one you flew in for on Monday. - Ready to travel every week and relocate full-time to San Francisco. This is not a remote role. - Absolute grinder. Interested in co-living (though not required). - Low ego, curious, intellectually honest. Focused on outcomes, not on being right. The Process Call with engineer → 1hr technical test → Call with founder → fly out to SF HQ (on us) → offer. ## About SalesPatriot ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: SalesPatriot is building an AI-native operating system for defense and aerospace supply chains, automating procurement, quoting, and sourcing for distributors and OEMs. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed-stage, YC W25) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (with a second office in Warsaw, Poland) - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Nelson Ray (Co-Founder & CEO), Ben Rhodes-Kropf (Co-Founder & CTO), Maciej Szymczyk (Co-Founder) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Defense and Space Manufacturing, Supply Chain Software, AI for Enterprise - **Target customers**: B2B, specifically defense and aerospace distributors, OEMs, and manufacturers who manage complex, multi-source procurement and government (DoD) contract bidding. - **Mission or purpose statement**: To replace fragmented, legacy supply chain systems running on email, spreadsheets, and disconnected ERPs with an AI-native platform that makes quoting, procurement, and sourcing nearly autonomous, thereby strengthening the industrial base of the United States and its allies. ## Products & Services - **SalesPatriot Platform (AI-Native OS)**: An integrated suite of AI workflows for sales and supply chain teams. It automates RFQ (Request for Quote) processing, procurement, data entry, and sourcing. Provides real-time visibility for executives into the entire supply chain, aggregating data from ERPs, CRMs, email, and marketplaces into a single, searchable interface. - **Defense & Aerospace Module**: Specifically designed to help manufacturers win DoD solicitations by automating opportunity capture, contract research, and bid management. - **Distribution Module**: End-to-end AI workflows for high-volume quoting, sourcing, and inventory management. - **Procurement Module**: Autonomous workflows for teams managing complex, multi-source procurement operations. - **Forward Deployed Engineering**: A service model where SalesPatriot engineers embed directly with customer teams to configure, integrate, and optimize the AI platform in their specific operational environment. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed. - **Total Funding**: **$5.5M** (as of late 2025). Consists of a $500k pre-seed from Y Combinator (March 2025) and a $5.0M seed round led by **CRV** (November 2025), with participation from **Pear VC**, **SV Angel**, and **Paul Graham**. - **Key Metric**: **17 Employees** (+175% YoY growth). Top 5% growth in its Y Combinator W25 batch. - **Growth Signals**: Hyper-growth trajectory from a top-performing YC batch; rapid headcount expansion; opening a second office in Warsaw, Poland; strong investor backing from top-tier venture firms; a focus on a deeply strategic, non-cyclical market (US defense supply chain). ## Competitive Advantages - **Focus on National Security Supply Chain**: Solves a genuinely broken, high-stakes problem for the US industrial base, creating a strong "mission-driven" moat. - **Forward Deployed Model**: Engineers embed with customers, leading to deep integration, high switching costs, and rapid, real-world impact that can't be replicated by a simple SaaS tool. - **AI-Native Architecture**: Purpose-built from scratch for modern AI workflows, replacing legacy systems from the 1980s rather than layering AI on top of them. - **Elite Team & Culture**: A small, high-caliber team with backgrounds from MIT's Han Lab, DARPA, D.E. Shaw, and top universities, creating a culture of high ownership and technical excellence. ## Strategic Focus - **Aggressive Hiring**: Actively building out its engineering teams in both San Francisco and Warsaw to accelerate product development and customer deployments. - **Customer Density**: Prioritizing deep, high-impact deployments with key players in the defense and aerospace supply chain over a broad, shallow customer base. - **Product Expansion**: Moving from core RFQ automation into a full end-to-end operating system that covers procurement, distribution, and supply chain visibility. - **Geographic Expansion**: Using the Warsaw office as a hub to tap into a deep pool of technical talent in Europe. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-Driven Impact**: Work on a problem that genuinely matters—securing critical supply chains for the US and its allies. Your code directly impacts national readiness. - **Rapid, Tangible Results**: New hires ship code to production within days, not quarters. Short feedback loops with real customers mean your work has immediate, visible impact. - **High-Caliber Team**: Join a small, highly selective team ("nobody likes B players") where you'll learn from top performers from MIT, DARPA, and premier venture funds. - **Meaningful Equity**: As an early-stage company on a hyper-growth trajectory, early employees receive significant equity ownership. - **Culture of Autonomy**: The team values builders who "figure it out without a spec" and "care more about the problem than the title." It's a high-trust, high-autonomy environment. - **Work Environment**: Office-first, in-person culture with two hubs (San Francisco and Warsaw). There is also a "co-living in hacker house" option, emphasizing a tight-knit, intense team culture. ## Sources 1. [SalesPatriot Website](https://salespatriot.com/) 2. [SalesPatriot Careers Page](https://salespatriot.com/careers) 3. [SalesPatriot on Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/salespatriot) 4. [SalesPatriot on Built In](https://builtin.com/company/salespatriot) 5. [SalesPatriot on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salespatriot) ## Other roles at SalesPatriot - [Engineering Lead (Warsaw)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-lead-warsaw-salespatriot-warsaw-bgfraehd2j94) — Warsaw, Poland - [Software Engineer (Warsaw)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-warsaw-salespatriot-warsaw-zn3r04cnnwk1) — Warsaw, Poland - [Lead Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-forward-deployed-engineer-salespatriot-san-francisco-xzz3bgm421rv) — San Francisco, CA - [Account Executive](https://feeny.ai/job/account-executive-salespatriot-san-francisco-1c5a7vysj9dh) — San Francisco, CA - [Business Development Representative](https://feeny.ai/job/business-development-representative-salespatriot-houston-t7yrce49d5mb) — Houston, TX - [Full Stack Engineer (San Francisco)](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-engineer-san-francisco-salespatriot-san-francisco-mepn6ejkqrc7) — San Francisco, CA - [Senior Software Engineer (Warsaw)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-software-engineer-warsaw-salespatriot-warsaw-5vbrn9fzas4f) — Warsaw, Poland - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-endex-new-york-90b7a3gxa3hn) — New York, NY - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-tailor-tokyo-s13zym93hhw0) — Tokyo, Japan - [Forward Deployed Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-engineer-generalist-boston-sc2en2dar5v8) — Boston, MA