Contract Frontline AI Engineer — Remote, Client-Facing

hedgehog lab; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 111,000 - 166,000; Part time

Job summary

Hedgehog Lab in the United Kingdom is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer on a contract basis to lead the earliest stage of a new client engagement. You’ll be the first engineer on site, defining architecture, tooling and delivery approach with strong hands-on coding and client interaction.

You’ll work with AI-powered, multilingual data processing and rapid PoCs, shaping how a project scales. Expect direct client exposure, fast decision cycles, and the freedom to choose the best tools for the

Qualifications

• Real experience using AI agents to build production software.
• Track record of breaking down poorly defined problems and shipping something that works.
• Strong TypeScript or Python across the full stack, with frameworks such as NestJS or FastAPI.
• Experience working with and presenting to clients directly.
• Clear written communication, especially ADRs and docs others rely on.
• Consulting, professional services or forward-deployed experience.
• A practical approach to architecture, sized to POC, pilot or production.

Responsibilities

• Turning the client's goals into a solution architecture and technology choices.
• Building proofs of concept that validate the design and hand off cleanly.
• Defining the agentic engineering pipeline: tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents.
• Setting the quality approach, including testing and code review.
• Knowledge transfer through pairing, leaving patterns the client's engineers can own.
• Producing the architectural decision records.

Job description

Hedgehog Lab in the United Kingdom is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer on a contract basis to lead the earliest stage of a new client engagement. You’ll be the first engineer on site, defining architecture, tooling and delivery approach with strong hands-on coding and client interaction.

You’ll work with AI-powered, multilingual data processing and rapid PoCs, shaping how a project scales. Expect direct client exposure, fast decision cycles, and the freedom to choose the best tools for the