Forward Deployed Product Manager

At Valon, we build software where others hesitate: regulated, high-stakes financial systems. To make ValonOS the AI-native operating system for regulated finance, we need people who can live at the intersection of customer deployments and core product.

As a Forward Deployed Product Manager (FDPM), you are the connective tissue between customer deployments and R&D: ensuring both the success of specific client buildouts and the creation of elegant, reusable capabilities. You’ll build beyond one-off fixes by turning field insights into product leverage, shaping a platform that works not just for one client, but for the entire industry.

Unlike Deployment Strategists—who own client relationships and operational delivery—you focus on building technical solutions & translating the lessons from the field into generalized products that compound over time.

• Surface & Translate Requirements: Partner with Deployment Strategists and clients to scope real customer needs and turn them into crisp product definitions.
  
• Generalize from the Field: Abstract messy, one-off asks into scalable product patterns, balancing immediacy with long-term product principles.
  
• Design Extensions & Integrations: Define and build integrations and workflow extensions with engineering that become reusable platform modules.
  
• Represent the Customer in Product: Ensure roadmap decisions reflect deployment reality, validating solutions against live operational needs.
  
• Create Leverage for Scale: Build playbooks, documentation, and rollout strategies so DS teams can scale adoption across customers.
  
• Close the Loop: When gaps emerge in the field, diagnose the root cause, propose solutions, and work with clients, deployment strategists, and engineers to resolve them.

• A Systems Thinker: You can dive into a client’s specific workflows, then zoom out to design abstractions that scale across many.
  
• Technically Fluent: You don’t need to code, but you can reason about workflows, APIs, ledgers, integrations, and data models with engineers. You love understanding how complex systems fit together.
  
• Customer-Driven, Product-Minded: You embed with customers to see the messy truth, but your north star is building reusable product.
  
• Collaborative: You thrive in high-trust squads where DS, PMs, engineers, and operators co-own outcomes.
  
• Execution-Focused: You can run zero-to-one builds in ambiguous environments and ship.
  
• Complexity-Loving: Where others see edge cases and risk, you see puzzles and opportunity. Complexity doesn’t scare you—it motivates you.

We’re not just modernizing a broken system, we’re replacing the core. Mortgage servicing was our proving ground: $100B+ loans, 50-state licensing, industry-leading compliance. Now we’re licensing ValonOS to the industry.

As a Forward Deployed PM, you’ll shape that journey. You’ll see firsthand how the most important systems in the American economy run today, and help build the software that will define how they operate tomorrow.

This role is also a launchpad, many FDPMs will grow into core product leadership or practice-area ownership as Valon expands beyond mortgage servicing.

What we can offer:

Compensation: competitive salary of $160,000-$220,000 with a meaningful stake in the company via equity, and 401k plan. NB: The base salary range reflects multiple levels. We assess level based on a combination of past experience and interview performance

Health & well-being: we’ll invest in your physical and mental well-being with comprehensive medical, dental, & vision benefits

Commuter benefits: We offer pre-tax deductions for public transportation, rideshare services, and parking expenses to make your commute more affordable and convenient

Grow together: Company wide orientation for you to successfully onboard and other learning & development opportunities including regular review cycles that feature 360 degree feedback

Play together: quarterly budgets for team and company outings. Use it for team swag, cooking classes, or team dinners!

Generous time off: flexible paid time off, sick days, and 11 company holidays

Baby bonding time!: 12 weeks off for both birthing and non-birthing parents - fully paid so you can focus your energy on your newest addition