The role
When an organisation decides to do something serious with AI, the Practice is who they call, and you’re the person we send.
A Forward Deployed Engineer sits somewhere between a staff engineer, a solutions architect and a technical founder. We optimise for engineering judgement over familiarity with any particular framework or model. You embed with clients, figure out what the real problem is, and build the solution alongside them. You might be designing an AI platform for an NHS trust one engagement and integrating LLM workflows into a manufacturer’s ERP system the next. Every engagement is different, but the goal is always the same: leave behind software that people depend on.
You’ll work directly with clients to understand how they operate and build AI systems that solve real problems. Sometimes that means designing a modern AI platform. More often, it means making AI work within legacy systems, imperfect data and organisational constraints.
This isn’t strategy consulting, and it isn’t an internal engineering role. You’ll spend time with users, engineers and executives, move between architecture and implementation, and stay with a project until it’s delivering value in production.
Core responsibilities
Lead technical delivery from discovery through to production, taking ownership of outcomes rather than just outputs.
Embed with client teams to understand their systems, processes and constraints, then design solutions that fit the reality of their environment.
Design and build production AI systems, from LLM applications and agentic workflows to enterprise integrations, using the right tools for the problem.
Integrate AI systems with existing enterprise software, databases, APIs and identity platforms rather than building in isolation.
Deploy, operate and improve production AI systems across cloud infrastructure, application architecture and data pipelines.
Act as a trusted technical advisor to engineering teams and senior stakeholders, communicating complex decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Turn successful engagements into reusable tooling, patterns and engineering practices that raise the quality of future delivery.
What we’re looking for
A strong software engineering background with experience building and operating production systems.
Comfortable in Python and Typescript and at least one other modern language (Go, PHP, Java, etc.).
Experience designing, building and operating production AI systems from architecture through to deployment.
Experience delivering software on modern cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) using modern CI/CD practices.
Able to navigate ambiguity, make sensible technical trade-offs and keep projects moving.
Good engineering judgement. You know when to optimise, when to simplify and when not to use AI at all.
Strong communication skills and confidence working directly with clients, from engineers through to executive leadership.
Curious, pragmatic and motivated by solving real-world problems.
Willing to travel within the UK when projects require time on site with clients.
This role is not for you if
You want a pure engineering role with no client contact.
You only want to work on greenfield projects with perfect requirements and modern technology.
You’d rather spend your time building in isolation than working closely with customers and users.
You want to be insulated from the commercial consequences of your technical decisions.
You might be
A staff or principal software engineer who wants more ownership and closer contact with customers.
A senior solutions architect who wants to spend more time shipping products.
An experienced forward deployed engineer looking for a broader range of technical challenges and greater autonomy.
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