Founding Forward Deployed Engineer

Valon is building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance, starting with mortgage servicing.
We're a Series C company backed by a16z, transforming industries that others have written off as too complex to innovate.
Rather than build on top of broken legacy systems, we took a different approach: we built and operate our own mortgage servicing business managing $110+ billion in loans. This wasn't the end goal, it was how we deeply understood the complexity needed to build software that actually works in regulated industries.
The results speak for themselves. We've transformed mortgage servicing from a 0% margin business into 60%+ margins while dramatically improving customer experience. Major enterprise contracts are now deploying across the industry.
ValonOS is our unified platform that makes every process structured and programmable and it is perfectly positioned for the AI era. When everything flows through one system with rich data, AI agents don't just automate tasks, they continuously improve entire operations. Mortgage servicing is just the beginning of our vision to transform regulated industries and beyond.

We are building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance—starting with mortgage servicing. Our system of record powers real operations at national scale, with $100B+ in loans, 500K+ customers, and AI agents executing real workflows. You will be the Founding Forward Deployed Engineer at Valon. You’ll be the technical arm of our most strategic partnerships—rapidly building bespoke solutions that drive customer value, unblock deployments, and ultimately shape our core product. You’ll embed with our first scaled deployment, ship production software that unblocks value in days, and turn those patterns into reusable product and playbooks for future customers. This is a founder‑like role with high autonomy, clear ownership, and direct impact on revenue and roadmap.

• Own discovery and delivery end‑to‑end: scope, validate, build, deploy, and iterate in production.

• Accelerate deployments by building high-impact integrations and prototypes for our most strategic enterprise clients.

• Unblock revenue by solving the “last mile” of adoption—translating ambiguous needs into working software.

• Bridge product and GTM by embedding with sales, product, and customer success teams to shape deployments and inform roadmap.

• Act as the technical face with enterprise executives and operators; translate between business and code with credibility.

• Rotate between client‑embedded cycles and in‑house cycles to harden what you built and level up the platform.

• Build high‑leverage integrations, data pipelines, and bespoke features that become core product where it makes sense.

• Identify and help land true expansions post‑sale, using willingness‑to‑pay as the filter for what matters.

• You meet the same technical bar as our product engineers and have shipped meaningful systems.

• You’ve been a founder, FDE, or the first/early engineer who owned outcomes with customers.

• Experienced engineer: 1–7 years of software engineering experience, ideally with product ownership or startup DNA.

• Builder, not a theorist: You care about outcomes. You bias toward MVPs, fast iterations, and visible impact over perfect code.

• Comfortable with ambiguity: You can decompose fuzzy asks, prioritize independently, and execute without a spec.

• Customer-centric: You’ve worked directly with users or clients, and you can speak business and code.

• Owner mindset: You step up when something needs doing. You solve problems even when they “aren’t yours.”

As this is a unique role that allows for direct collaboration with our top clients, we have strict in-office and travel requirements. Candidates should apply if they are willing to be based out of NY or SF, while traveling to client locations 25-50% of the time.

• Former founders or early-stage engineers who’ve worn multiple hats.

• Engineers who’ve built customer-facing features or integrations end-to-end.

• Forward Deployed Engineers, Solutions engineers, GTM engineers, or those with experience in consultative technical roles

• Experience with LLMs, APIs, system integrations, or complex enterprise deployments is a plus

If you’re excited by zero-to-one work, this is one of the most impactful roles at Valon. Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) are on the front lines of our software expansion—solving high-leverage customer problems, unlocking revenue, and shaping the roadmap in real time.

We’re at a unique inflection point: after years of building and proving our system as a national servicer, we’re now scaling that software to power the broader industry. There’s massive inbound interest—and the bottleneck is execution. FDEs are how we close that gap.

This is a role for engineers who want to move fast, build with purpose, and make their fingerprints visible across the product and business. You’ll operate at the intersection of AI, finance, and infrastructure—embedding with customers, shipping bespoke solutions, and influencing how our platform evolves.

You’ll succeed here if:

• You unblock customers and get them live—fast.

• You turn ambiguous asks into working software in days, not months.

• You’re trusted by product, sales, and clients alike.

• Your builds become product, not just prototypes.

• You step up when others are still figuring out who owns the problem.

Join us if you want to:

• Build AI-powered systems that run in production at national scale.

• Own outcomes—not tickets.

• Learn every day by working at the edge of customer pain and product truth.

• Be part of a high-trust team solving a $20B infrastructure problem few are willing to touch.

• Base Compensation Band: $130,000-$230,000. Base salary offered is determined by a number of factors including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and skills

  • This Base Compensation pay range applies to our New York City located staff and may differ according to location.

• Compensation: Competitive salary with a meaningful stake in the company via equity, and 401k plan 

• 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

Throughout the interview process, please remember that emails will only be from valon.com email addresses. We will never ask for any personally identifiable information during the interview process itself. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any requests to verify the authenticity of an outreach.

Valon is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. Valon makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.