Engineer II - Forward Deployed Engineer

GlaxoSmithKline plc; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

GlaxoSmithKline plc in the Enterprise AI team seeks Engineer II, a senior individual contributor who takes full ownership of FDE engagements end-to-end—embedding inside business unit teams, prototyping AI ideas at a days-to-weeks cadence, leading G8 FDEs on multi-engineer engagements, and handing proven solutions off cleanly to the Solutions Engineer.

This role operates at the intersection of technical depth and stakeholder influence.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of BU use cases from problem framing through to working prototype, at days-to-weeks cadence, without close supervision.
• Qualify incoming BU asks - challenge underspecified problems, assess feasibility, and define scope before committing to an engagement.
• Embed with BU teams - product owners, engineering leads, and the wider BU - building trusted working relationships and genuine domain understanding.
• Form and defend kill/continue recommendations at the end of each engagement based on evidence - presenting clearly to BU and Enterprise AI leadership.
• Ship first production versions on engagements where the path is clear and complexity is bounded, before handing forward to the Solutions Engineer.
• Lead small multi-FDE engagements - direct the work of G8 FDEs, review their output, and ensure delivery quality without becoming the bottleneck.
• Actively mentor G8 FDEs during engagements: provide technical guidance, share engagement judgement, and give structured feedback that accelerates their development.
• Contribute to FDE interview and onboarding processes where relevant.
• Operate AI agent workflows for autonomous prototype delivery - orchestrating multi-agent systems as the primary engineering mode.
• Use AI coding assistants as the default mode of building; direct, validate, and course-correct AI-generated code at engineering speed.
• Design and orchestrate multi-agent systems end-to-end; judge when agentic approaches add value versus simpler alternatives, and guide G8 FDEs in making the same calls.
• Package proven use cases cleanly for the Solutions Engineer - working code, architecture rationale, open risks, and scaling concerns.
• Own the quality of FDE pattern library contributions - distil every engagement into reusable agents, prompt templates, and reference architectures.

Job description

Business Introduction

GSK remains committed to achieving bold commercial ambitions for the future. By 2031, we aim to deliver £40 billion in annual sales, leveraging our existing strong performance momentum to significantly increase our positive impact on the health of billions of patients globally. Our Ahead Together strategy is centred on early intervention to prevent and alter the course of disease, thereby protecting people and supporting healthcare systems. Our diverse portfolio consists of vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines. Through continuous innovation and a dedicated focus on scientific and technical excellence, we strive to develop and launch new, groundbreaking treatments that address critical health challenges.

Position Summary

GSK's Enterprise AI team builds AI solutions that prove value fast and scale to production. The Engineer II is a senior individual contributor who takes full ownership of FDE engagements end-to-end - embedding inside business unit teams, prototyping AI ideas at a days-to-weeks cadence, leading G8 FDEs on multi-engineer engagements, and handing proven solutions off cleanly to the Solutions Engineer. This role operates at the intersection of technical depth and stakeholder influence. The role does not just execute engagements - they help qualify which BU problems are worth tackling, shape engagement standards, and actively mentor the G8 FDEs alongside them. Most prototyping is AI-augmented: AI coding assistants and multi-agent workflows handle the bulk of routine coding, freeing the Senior FDE to focus on framing, judgement, and validation. This role does not carry use cases through to long-term operations - clean handoff to the Solutions Engineer is part of how the function works.

Why This Role Exists

Enterprise AI needs engineers who can own substantive BU engagements independently, guide more junior colleagues through the FDE practice, and help shape how the function qualifies and runs its work. The role is the backbone of the FDE team's delivery capacity. Owns complex engagements end-to-end from problem framing through working prototype, at days-to-weeks cadence, with minimal supervision. Leads small multi-FDE engagements - directing and mentoring G8 FDEs during delivery while maintaining accountability for outcome quality. Helps shape the FDE intake pipeline - qualifying which BU problems merit engagement and challenging unclear or underspecified asks before work begins. Owns the quality bar for pattern library contributions - ensuring reusable assets are adopted, not just submitted.

Key responsibilities

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:

FDE Engagement Ownership

• Take full ownership of BU use cases from problem framing through to working prototype, at days-to-weeks cadence, without close supervision.
• Qualify incoming BU asks - challenge underspecified problems, assess feasibility, and define scope before committing to an engagement.
• Embed with BU teams - product owners, engineering leads, and the wider BU - building trusted working relationships and genuine domain understanding.
• Form and defend kill/continue recommendations at the end of each engagement based on evidence - presenting clearly to BU and Enterprise AI leadership.
• Ship first production versions on engagements where the path is clear and complexity is bounded, before handing forward to the Solutions Engineer.

Team Leadership & Mentoring

• Lead small multi-FDE engagements - direct the work of G8 FDEs, review their output, and ensure delivery quality without becoming the bottleneck.
• Actively mentor G8 FDEs during engagements: provide technical guidance, share engagement judgement, and give structured feedback that accelerates their development.
• Contribute to FDE interview and onboarding processes where relevant.

AI-Native Engineering

• Operate AI agent workflows for autonomous prototype delivery - orchestrating multi-agent systems as the primary engineering mode.
• Use AI coding assistants as the default mode of building; direct, validate, and course-correct AI-generated code at engineering speed. Go beyond vibe coding: design and build agentic workflows that automate delivery end-to-end, and run delivery bot meshes as part of day-to-day engineering, guiding G8 FDEs to do the same.
• Design and orchestrate multi-agent systems end-to-end; judge when agentic approaches add value versus simpler alternatives, and guide G8 FDEs in making the same calls.

Delivery & Handoff

• Package proven use cases cleanly for the Solutions Engineer - working code, architecture rationale, open risks, and scaling concerns.
• Own the quality of FDE pattern library contributions - distil every engagement into reusable agents, prompt templates, and reference architectures, and ensure the bar is high enough that others can adopt without rework.

Governance, Standards & Coaching

Initiate Code Orange, Responsible