VP of Deployment & Customer Operations

Teleo; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 420,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health, Dental & Vision insurance

401k matching

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Teleo is seeking a Head of Deployment & Customer Operations to lead the team responsible for every customer engagement after contract signature. You will own deployments from onboarding through production operation and long-term success, ensuring safety, efficiency, and value realization for customers.

Collaborate with Commercial, Engineering, Product, Manufacturing, and Field Ops to create scalable processes and an outstanding customer experience.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of leadership across deployment operations, customer operations, or related functions.
• Proven track record leading customer-facing operational teams.
• Experience managing complex deployments with hardware, software, networking and field ops.
• Ability to build scalable processes and organizations.
• Strong cross-functional coordination with engineering, manufacturing, product, and customers.
• Excellent executive communication and relationship management, travel-ready.

Responsibilities

• Own the entire customer journey after contract execution.
• Lead onboarding, deployment planning, site readiness and commissioning.
• Coordinate networking, machine retrofits, operator training, testing and go-live.
• Ensure deployments meet operations, schedule, quality and safety targets.
• Serve as executive owner for successful customer outcomes.
• Build repeatable deployment playbooks and standards for global scale.
• Scale deployments with operational excellence and measurable ROI.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Customer-facing communication

Program management

Deployment operations

Analytical problem-solving

Travel willingness

Job description

Teleo, a Havoc company, is a robotics company that transforms construction heavy equipment, including loaders, dozers, excavators, and trucks, into autonomous robots for commercial and defense applications. Our technology enables a single operator to supervise and control multiple machines simultaneously, delivering significant productivity gains while improving operator safety and comfort.

Teleo was founded by a team of experienced technology leaders who previously led the development of Lyft's Self-Driving Car program and Google Street View. Teleo recently announced its merger with Havoc AI, a fast-growing defense technology company developing coordinated fleets of autonomous maritime vessels.

This is a unique opportunity to join a team building technology with real-world impact. You will work on cutting-edge 100,000-pound autonomous robots and engineer complex systems at the intersection of hardware, software, robotics, and AI.

Teleo deployments are unlike traditional software implementations.

Every customer deployment involves a combination of heavy equipment, networking infrastructure, cellular connectivity, machine retrofits, software systems, field operations, operator training, commissioning, and ongoing customer success.

We are looking for an exceptional Head of Deployment & Customer Operations to build and lead the organization responsible for every customer engagement following contract signature.

You will own the successful delivery of Teleo deployments—from customer onboarding and site readiness through production operation and long-term customer success. Your organization will ensure that every deployment is executed safely, efficiently, and predictably while enabling customers to realize meaningful operational value from Teleo's technology.

You will work closely with Commercial, Engineering, Product, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Field Operations to build repeatable deployment processes, scale operational excellence, and create an outstanding customer experience.

As one of Teleo's senior leaders, you will play a central role in defining how the company scales customer deployments globally.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Deployment & Operations

• Own the entire customer journey following contract execution.
• Lead customer onboarding, deployment planning, site readiness assessments, and commissioning activities.
• Coordinate networking infrastructure deployment, machine retrofits, operator training, acceptance testing, and production go-live.
• Ensure every customer deployment meets operational, schedule, quality, and safety objectives.
• Serve as the executive owner responsible for successful customer outcomes.

Customer Success

• Own customer outcomes beyond initial deployment.
• Build long-term relationships with customer executives and operational teams.
• Lead customer business reviews and monitor customer health metrics.
• Ensure customers achieve measurable operational improvements and return on investment.
• Identify opportunities for fleet expansion and long-term strategic partnerships.
• Build mechanisms for capturing and prioritizing customer feedback across the organization.

Operational Excellence & Scalability

• Design and build the systems, processes, and tools required to scale deployments globally.
• Develop repeatable deployment playbooks, commissioning procedures, and operational standards.
• Establish deployment KPIs, dashboards, forecasting, and capacity planning processes.
• Continuously improve deployment efficiency, quality, and predictability.
• Build an operational organization capable of supporting hundreds of deployed machines across multiple customer sites.
• Partner closely with the CEO and executive leadership team on operational strategy and company growth.
• Work cross-functionally with Commercial, Engineering, Product, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Field Operations to deliver customer commitments.
• Provide operational insights and customer feedback to influence product direction and strategic priorities.
• Help build the organizational capabilities, processes, and culture required to scale Teleo into a category-defining robotics company.

Team & Culture

• Recruit, develop, and lead world-class teams spanning deployment operations, program management, field operations, commissioning, and customer success.
• Establish organizational structure, performance metrics, and career development paths aligned with company growth.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, urgency, customer obsession, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressively responsible leadership across deployment operations, customer operations, field operations, implementation, customer success, program management, or related functions.
• Proven track record leading customer-facing operational organizations.
• Experience managing complex deployments involving hardware, software, networking, and field operations.
• Demonstrated ability to build scalable operational processes and organizations.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with experience coordinating engineering, manufacturing, product, and customer-facing teams.
• Excellent customer-facing communication and executive relationship management skills.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and operational problem-solving capabilities.
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage environment with ambiguity, limited resources, and rapid iteration.
• Willingness to travel regularly to customer sites.

Preferred Experience

• Experience working in construction, mining, aggregates, waste, ports, logistics, or other heavy equipment industries.
• Experience deploying technology onto heavy equipment, including telematics, machine control, autonomy systems, fleet management systems, industrial networking solutions, or related technologies.
• Experience coordinating technology deployments across active construction sites or industrial environments.
• Experience working directly with contractors, equipment owners, fleet operators, equipment dealers, distributors, or OEMs.
• Familiarity with major equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Komatsu, Volvo, John Deere, Hitachi, Liebherr, or similar OEMs.
• Experience leading commissioning, field service, retrofit, or deployment organizations.
• Experience scaling customer operations within robotics, industrial automation, construction technology, autonomy, or industrial equipment companies.
• Prior leadership role within a venture-backed or high-growth technology company.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to build and lead the customer deployment organization of a category-defining robotics company.
• Significant executive visibility and influence on company direction.
• Competitive executive compensation package, including meaningful equity.
• Flexible location with a highly collaborative Bay Area-based leadership team.
• The opportunity to shape how autonomous heavy equipment is successfully deployed and adopted across the world's largest industrial industries.

Why This Role Matters

Teleo isn't simply shipping products—we're transforming how heavy equipment is operated.

As Head of Deployment & Customer Operations, you will build the organization responsible for turning customer commitments into successful real-world deployments. Every machine that enters production, every operator who adopts our technology, and every customer who expands their fleet will be a direct reflection of the systems and teams you build.

This is a unique opportunity to define what world-class customer operations look like for one of the most exciting companies in industrial robotics.

• 100% Employer paid Health, Dental and Vision Insurance for you and your families
• Life Insurance (Employer Paid)
• Ability to participate in the companies 401k program (Matching)
• Unlimited PTO policy with an enforced 2 week minimum