Forward Deployed Engineer 5

About the Company

Our client is a consulting firm that does AI and data engineering work for its clients. Their model is forward-deployed: engineers embed directly with client teams — understanding the real business problem, communicating with non-technical stakeholders, and turning ambiguity into shipped, production-grade systems. They hire people who are excited to build real things, work closely with clients, and operate with a lot of autonomy.

Position Overview

This firm sits at the intersection of consulting and product — and Forward Deployed Engineers are where those two things meet. As a Sr. Staff Forward Deployed Engineer, you're the solution architect for major client systems and critical product areas. Your impact spans multiple teams: you set the technical bar across a large domain, lead ambiguous multi-quarter initiatives, and turn what you build for one client into accelerators the whole practice reuses.

Responsibilities

• Deliver AI solutions to customers — Lead ambiguous, multi-quarter initiatives across engagements; optimize the delivery pipeline and act as a force multiplier for stability and performance.
• Engineer vertical AI products — Define the architecture for major client systems and product areas; set advanced LLMOps standards and novel evaluation frameworks; define the strategic application of advanced AI techniques (custom agent frameworks, multimodal).
• Automate delivery via platforms/tools — Own platform and tooling strategy, championing the accelerators that make every future engagement faster.
• Support sales & deal closing — Own solution architecture for major deals, delivery planning, and proposals & pitches.
• People & process — Mentor senior engineers, shape roadmap and culture across teams, and elevate the engineering function.

Requirements

• 10+ years as a software engineer, including significant time in a consulting or client-facing role
• 5+ years building platform- or product-focused software
• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in an engineering discipline, mathematics, information technology, or physics
• High agency — defaults to action and brings solutions, not just problems
• Strong client-service instincts — knows when to go deep vs. translate complex engineering for a non-technical audience
• Builder's drive — eager to prototype with modern AI tooling and continually sharpen internal tooling

Bonus Points

• Experience at a top-tier management consultancy
• Published work in ML, NLP, or AI (e.g., arXiv papers or conference references)

How This Team Works

Remote-first and globally distributed, with limited travel. Uses leading-edge AI development tools as part of daily workflow. Small, tactical teams that move quickly across a variety of client industries and problem types.