Forward Deployed AI Engineer

Collage; Canada; Remote; CAD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

ProServeIT is hiring a Forward Deployed AI Engineer in Canada to lead technical pre-sales, scope viable engagements, and build production Azure AI solutions with intelligent workflows. You will partner with account executives and client stakeholders to turn business needs into scoped, commercially viable engagements.

The role combines hands-on engineering, architectural judgment, and delivery ownership from discovery through handover.

Qualifications

• Typically 5–10 years of relevant software/engineering delivery experience.
• Experience delivering production Azure-based AI solutions.
• Experience leading client discovery, shaping proposals, estimating effort, and preparing Statements of Work.
• Experience with project costing, gross margin calculations, and project management.
• Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI, Data Science, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical pre-sales discovery, solution workshops, and sales discussions with non-technical stakeholders.
• Define deliverables, assumptions, dependencies, client responsibilities, acceptance criteria, and delivery phases; confirm data availability and integration constraints.
• Create SOWs and delivery estimates covering work packages, engineering effort, staffing, timelines, and contingency.

Skills

Pre-sales

Commercial awareness

Delivery ownership

Architectural judgment

Client communication

Education

Computer Science / Engineering / AI / Data Science degree

Tools

Azure

Azure OpenAI

Azure AI Foundry

Document Intelligence

Copilot Studio

Claude Code

Codex

GitHub Copilot

Job description

Artificial Intelligence Full Time Canada Remote $100,000 - $150,000 CAD per year

ProServeIT is a leading IT solutions provider that specializes in delivering innovative technology solutions to help businesses thrive. With over 20 years of experience, we've established ourselves as a trusted partner in the ever-evolving world of technology.

We are looking to hire a Forward Deployed AI Engineer with a focus on leading technical pre-sales, scoping commercially viable engagements, and building production applications and intelligent workflows on Azure using AI coding tools and appropriate AI services.This role partners with account executives and client stakeholders to identify opportunities, shape solutions, and turn business needs into scoped, commercially viable engagements. The role combines hands‑on engineering, architectural judgment, and business understanding to own delivery from discovery and estimation through production deployment, adoption, and client handover.

Life at ProServeIT is fast paced, performance‑driven, rewarding, and fun! We value and support our team members' career growth and ongoing professional development. And we recognize their achievements and outstanding results on a regular basis. We work hard and play hard.

"People Matter. Be like gumby. Do it right." These are the three values we follow every day. These truly represent who we are and what we care about.

What you will do:

1. Technical Pre-sales & Scoping

• Lead technical discovery, solution workshops, and sales discussions alongside a non‑technical account executive, translating operational challenges into feasible solution options and recommendations.
• Define deliverables, exclusions, assumptions, dependencies, client responsibilities, acceptance criteria, and delivery phases. Confirm data availability, quality, access, and integration constraints with client teams and specialists.
• Create Statements of Work (SOWs) and delivery estimates covering work packages, engineering effort, staffing, timelines, project management, and contingency.
• Prepare gross margin (GM) and project management (PM) calculators. Work with account executives and delivery leadership to validate costs, resource mix, and margin against commercial targets.
• Own technical scope and estimates within the agreed commercial approval process. Identify scope changes early and explain their impact on effort, schedule, cost, and outcomes.

2. Application Engineering & Applied AI

• Build complete Azure applications, including web interfaces, APIs, data persistence, authentication, and enterprise integrations. Select appropriate AI services, including Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Document Intelligence, and Copilot Studio.
• Combine document extraction, classification, validation, matching, and human review with deterministic business rules. Apply retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), assistants, or agents where they fit the use case.
• Use AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex, and GitHub Copilot to accelerate development, testing, debugging, refactoring, and documentation. Review generated changes critically and remain accountable for correctness, security, and maintainability.
• Prototype and iterate with users and domain experts. Collaborate with data, software, analysis, architecture, security, and project management specialists as engagement needs require.

3. Production Delivery & Client Outcomes

• Define success criteria and baselines with the client, including adoption, business value, accuracy, acceptable error rates, human‑review needs, reliability, latency, and operating cost.
• Test, deploy, monitor, troubleshoot, and improve solutions in client environments. Own release readiness and operational handover, balancing speed, quality, security, cost, and delivery risk.
• Provide documentation, runbooks, knowledge transfer, and clear support ownership so clients can sustain the solution. Turn successful delivery into reusable patterns, accelerators, and building blocks.

Who you are:

• You combine hands‑on engineering, architectural judgment, and commercial awareness.
• You are comfortable in sales discovery, detailed scoping, code, and client delivery.
• You enjoy solving operational challenges and building applications people can use.
• You explain technical options, estimates, and trade‑offs clearly to account executives, technical teams, and senior business stakeholders.
• You navigate ambiguity, validate assumptions, and turn discovery into realistic delivery commitments.
• You take ownership of outcomes and raise delivery risks, scope changes, or competing priorities early.

What you bring:

Experience

• Typically 5 to 10 years of relevant experience in software engineering, application architecture, or technical consulting, with demonstrated hands‑on delivery.
• Experience delivering production applications on Azure and applying AI capabilities to real operational workflows.
• Consulting, professional‑services, or equivalent experience leading client discovery, shaping proposals, estimating effort, and preparing Statements of Work.
• Practical experience with project costing, gross margin and project management calculators, resource planning, and scope control; evidence of delivering adopted solutions against agreed outcomes.
• A degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Technical Skills

• Full‑stack application delivery, including web interfaces, APIs, relational or document databases, authentication, and enterprise integrations. Familiarity with frameworks such as React, Node.js, or ASP.NET Core.
• Effective use of AI coding tools: defining tasks and acceptance criteria, providing repository context, reviewing generated changes, and independently validating and debugging the resulting software.
• Hands‑on Azure delivery across application hosting, Functions, storage, databases, Entra ID, managed identities, Key Vault, and private networking; infrastructure as code using Bicep or equivalent tools.
• Practical experience with Azure AI services such as Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, or Document Intelligence, including model selection, structured outputs, and integration into business workflows.
• Understanding of LLMs, prompt design, retrieval, embeddings, vector search, and agentic workflows; judgment about when to use models, deterministic rules, or human review.
• Hands‑on Git, automated testing, Docker, CI/CD, production deployment, monitoring, failure recovery, and troubleshooting.
• AI evaluation using representative client samples and explicit acceptance thresholds; practical security, privacy, governance, and LLMOps practices for maintaining reliable production systems.

Nice to Have

• Experience building agents or enterprise extensions with Microsoft Copilot Studio.
• Experience with multimodal models, fine‑tuning, model adaptation, or open‑source LLMs.
• Experience integrating business systems such as ERP, HR, finance, or healthcare platforms, Microsoft Graph, or Microsoft Fabric.
• Exposure to regulated industries, sensitive‑data workflows, or enterprise governance requirements.

What makes you successful:

• You connect technical credibility, commercial judgment, and end‑to‑end ownership from the first client meeting through handover.
• You deliver applications users adopt and measure improvements against agreed business outcomes.
• You make realistic commitments and balance delivery speed, quality, cost, risk, and project margin.
• You build trust with clients and account executives through clear recommendations and reliable follow‑through.
• You manage priorities across pre‑sales and active delivery with sales and delivery leadership, keeping progress and risks visible.
• You know when to work deeply in the code and when to involve the right specialist.
• You continuously improve, reuse, and scale what works across engagements.

Application Process

To ensure a fair and efficient recruitment process, we use AI‑powered screening tools to assist in the initial review of applications. These tools help us identify candidates whose qualifications closely match the job requirements. All final hiring decisions are made by our human recruitment team.

Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility

ProServeIT values diversity of thought and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where all people feel supported, connected, and belonging at work. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, ethnic origin, place of origin, disability, or age. Please let us know if you require any accommodations or support during the recruitment process.