Forward Deployed Product Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Most PMs sit behind a roadmap. You'll be in the room where the AI actually gets deployed, then back at HQ making sure what you learned changes the product.

The Company

Sendbird is on a mission to build the AI workforce of tomorrow. For over a decade, we built the infrastructure behind conversations, chat, voice, video, messaging APIs, and became the #1 CPaaS platform for in-app communications. 4,000+ brands trust us. 7 billion messages flow through our platform every month. 300 million monthly active users.

We powered conversations for DoorDash, Match Group, Noom, Yahoo Sports, Rakuten, and thousands of others. We were good at what we did. Really good.

We also saw it early: AI would fundamentally reshape how businesses talk to customers. The infrastructure we'd spent a decade building would become commoditized. The value would move up the stack, into intelligence, into experience, into outcomes.

We had a choice: protect what we built, or reinvent ourselves.

We chose reinvention.

In December 2024, we made the full strategic pivot to AI-first customer experience. By February 2025, we'd launched our AI agent for enterprise CX, built on a decade of conversation data, now with intelligence on top. And in November 2025, we rebranded to Delight.ai.

The name says it all. AI's real promise isn't efficiency or cost savings. It's giving customers back something they lost, the feeling of being truly understood and cared for. Not satisfied. Delighted.

The Product

Delight.ai is the AI concierge for customer experience. Most AI agents forget you the moment the conversation ends. Ours doesn't. Delight.ai builds memory over time, learns preferences, and connects context across every channel, chat, SMS, email, voice, WhatsApp, without losing the thread. We're building AI that makes customers feel understood, seen, and remembered.

Why Forward Deployed Product Manager

Enterprise AI deployments don't fail because the technology is wrong. They fail because no one bridges the gap between what a customer actually needs and what the product can actually do. That gap is where this role lives.

We're moving fast. Pilots becoming production, feedback becoming roadmap, customers becoming case studies. We need someone who can be in a customer's office on Tuesday, synthesizing insights for engineering on Wednesday, and refining deployment playbooks by Friday. If you want to shape how an AI agent platform goes to market in real time, there is no better seat in the house.

The Role

The Forward Deployed PM owns the full arc from pilot to production for Delight.ai's AI Agent platform, working directly with customers to deploy, iterate, and prove value, then translating what they learn into product direction back home. This role is for someone equally comfortable in a customer whiteboard session and a GitHub issue thread.

You might be this person if:

• You get restless behind a desk. You'd rather be in front of a customer untangling a messy problem than writing a spec about one
• You can read a room: you know when to lead a conversation and when to shut up and listen
• You naturally translate vague customer pain into crisp, actionable product language, and you're already reaching for an AI tool to help structure it faster
• You treat ambiguity as a starting point, not a blocker. You move before the plan is perfect
• You've got a traveler's mindset. A last-minute flight to close a deployment doesn't stress you out, it energizes you
• You obsess over whether a thing actually works in the real world, not just in a demo
• You learn fast and publicly. You're not precious about being wrong if it means getting to right faster

You need to have:

• 2 to 4 years in a PM or product-facing role, with strategy consulting background as a strong plus
• A CS degree or technical equivalent. You understand how software is built even if you're not writing it day-to-day
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools, agent frameworks, or LLM-based systems. You've used them to do real work, not just to experiment
• Ability to be in our San Mateo office a minimum of 3 days per week and to travel frequently, sometimes on short notice

What you'll actually do:

• Embed with enterprise customers to map their CX workflows, then design and deploy AI agents, using Delight.ai's platform alongside supporting tools and automations, that deliver measurable business outcomes
• Run the full deployment lifecycle from scoping and configuration through testing, go-live, and post-launch iteration, using AI-assisted workflows to move faster at every stage
• Surface field insights and translate them into crisp, prioritized feedback for product and engineering teams
• Build and refine internal playbooks and tooling, including AI-powered templates and automated reporting, that make every future deployment faster and more reliable
• Act as the connective tissue between customer success, engineering, and product. Make sure nothing important gets lost between teams
• Identify patterns across deployments that point to product gaps or opportunities, and advocate for them with data and customer evidence
• Co-own deployment outcomes with customers. You're not handing off a ticket. You're accountable for what gets built

Added Value:

• Prior 0 to 1 experience. You've built and launched something from scratch, whether in a founder role or as an early team member
• Hands-on experience with agent frameworks, LLM pipelines, or AI/ML tooling beyond conceptual familiarity

What we offer

We take care of the people who build the future. Here's some of what you can expect when you join Sendbird.

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, on us. Sendbird covers 100% of the premium for our employees and roughly 80% for their dependents.
• Generous time off. 20 days PTO, 13 company holidays, 7 sick days, 2 rest & rejuvenation days, 1 volunteer day, and your birthday off.
• $3,500 annual "Be Your Best Self" boost . Spend it on anything that helps you grow. Gym memberships, therapy, books, courses, massages, and more.
• Parental leave for all new parents. Time to be present for the moments that matter most.
• 401(k) from day one. Auto-enrollment, flexible contributions, and access to Vanguard's investment platform.
• HSA & FSA options. Pre-tax accounts to cover healthcare, dependent care, and commuter expenses.
• Life & disability coverage, fully paid. Life insurance and AD&D at 2x your salary, plus short- and long-term disability at no cost to you.

Pay Transparency

For cash compensation, we set standard ranges for all roles based on function, level, and geographic location. To determine our ranges, we utilize a variety of compensation data benchmarked against similar-stage growth companies. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range for this role is $140,000 - $175,000. This range is specific to the San Francisco Bay market. We consider several factors when making final compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs which may cause your specific offer to vary from the amount listed above.

Flexible Work Policy

We offer a flexible work schedule at Sendbird. We also value collaboration and relationship building. With those values in mind, we require all employees to gather with their team in the office three days per week as a minimum. Some of our roles require a more frequent in-office schedule. Please work with your manager to understand the office time requirements for your position.

What diversity and inclusion mean to us

There is no such thing as a perfect candidate and the best employees come from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. Sendbird is a place where everyone can learn and grow. We respect, promote, and encourage diversity for equal employment opportunities and encourage you to apply if this role excites you.

Why Sendbird

We're not optimizing an existing market. We're redefining what AI-powered customer experience can be. The people joining now will shape how that gets built, deployed, and scaled. If you want to own something real, move fast, and look back in three years knowing you helped build it from the ground up, this is the place.

Sendbird is building the AI workforce of tomorrow, and we hire that way too. Learn more about our interview process, how we evaluate candidates, and the role AI plays along the way.