Forward Deployed AI Engineer, CBS - Associate Director (Level 4) - UK Wide

EY UK; Southampton; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Career development

Total Rewards

Job summary

EY UK is seeking an experienced Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join our Core Business Services team. This is a hands-on role with a leadership element, designing and building AI agents and automation tools while providing technical oversight across projects.

You will mentor junior staff, set engineering standards, translate business problems into deliverable scope, and collaborate with onshore and offshore resources to deliver scalable AI solutions.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Proven AI developer/engineer with a strong project portfolio.
• Proficiency in Python and TypeScript; strong Git skills.
• Solid understanding of algorithms, data structures and software design.
• Experience with Pandas, NumPy, SQL; Power Platform experience is a plus.
• Experience building and orchestrating LLM agents and prompt design.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop AI agents and automation tools for complex problems.
• Create scalable AI solutions across multiple projects and portfolios.
• Decide between low-code and pro-code approaches for implementations.
• Design cloud-native AI solutions and integrate new offerings.
• Provide technical oversight and QA across projects and teams.
• Set engineering standards and review team code and solutions.
• Translate business problems into deliverable technical scopes with effort estimates.
• Manage governance, AI risk assessment, and security/compliance considerations.

Skills

AI engineering

Python

TypeScript

Git

Cloud design

LLM agents

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Communication

API integration

Education

Master's in CS/DS/AI or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Power Platform

Graph/REST/SQL APIs

Git

Job description

At EY, we’re all in to shape your future with confidence.

We’ll help you succeed in a globally connected powerhouse of diverse teams and take your career wherever you want it to go.

Join EY and help to build a better working world.

Forward Deployed AI Engineer, Core Business Services - Assistant Director/Manager level

Location - any UK office

Permanent

Job Overview

We are seeking an experienced Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join our dynamic team. This is a hands-on role with a leadership element. You will design and build AI agents and automation tools yourself, while providing technical oversight and quality assurance across projects, shaping new work as it comes in, and supporting more junior members of the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop AI agents and automation tools to solve complex problems and improve business processes.
• Design AI solutions across multiple projects and portfolios, including orchestration layers and scalable, reusable solutions.
• Decide between, and build with, both low-code and pro-code approaches.
• Design cloud native solutions as the platform for AI solutions, and integrate new AI offerings.
• Provide technical oversight and quality assurance of projects and of the work of others, alongside building yourself.
• Set engineering standards and review the code and solutions produced by the team.
• Shape and scope new demand as it comes in, translating business problems into deliverable technical scope with an assessment of effort and feasibility.
• Own governance and set-up end to end, including AI risk assessment, information security, data loss prevention, change advisory board, environments and licensing, taking products all the way through to live release.
• Manage senior stakeholders, including demonstrating, defending and shaping the work with partners and business leadership.
• Support and mentor junior members of the team, and coordinate delivery across onshore and offshore resources.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements and translate them into technical specifications.
• Stay up to date with the latest advancements in AI and apply them to projects.
• Document code, processes and methodologies to ensure maintainability and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Lead and participate in code reviews, providing constructive feedback to peers.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field, or equivalent experience gained through several years in a relevant role.
• Proven experience as an AI developer or engineer, with a strong portfolio of delivered projects.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python and TypeScript.
• Working knowledge of Git and version control.
• Strong understanding of algorithms, data structures, and software design principles.
• Familiarity with data manipulation and analysis tools such as Pandas, NumPy, and SQL.
• Experience across the Power Platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages and Dataverse, together with solution management, environments and application lifecycle management.
• Experience building and orchestrating LLM agents, including prompt design, grounding and retrieval, structured outputs, and testing and evaluating agent behaviour where outputs are uncertain or non-deterministic.
• Experienced with cloud solutions, including how they are run, costed and used.
• Experience integrating AI tools with enterprise systems through APIs, including Graph, REST, SQL, SharePoint and dedicated business systems.
• Experience working within enterprise guardrails, including AI risk assessment, information security review, data loss prevention, environments and licensing.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently and in a team environment.
• Strong communication skills, including senior stakeholder management and the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Copilot Studio, or another agent orchestration platform.
• Experience mentoring developers or providing technical oversight to a delivery team.
• Front end, user experience or product design exposure that signals an awareness of user considerations.
• Knowledge of containerisation technologies like Docker and orchestration tools like Kubernetes.

What We Offer

• Opportunities for professional growth and development.
• A collaborative and innovative work environment.
• The chance to work on cutting-edge AI projects that make a difference.

What working at EY offers

We offer a competitive remuneration package where you’ll be rewarded for your individual and team performance. Our comprehensive Total Rewards package includes support for flexible working and career development, and with FlexEY you can select benefits that suit your needs, covering holidays, health and well-being, insurance, savings and a wide range of discounts, offers and promotions. Plus, we offer:

• Support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around
• Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career
• The freedom and flexibility to handle your role in a way that’s right for you

EY is committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We strive to achieve the right balance for our people, enabling us to deliver excellent client service whilst allowing you to build your career without sacrificing your personal priorities. While our client-facing professionals can be required to travel regularly, and at times be based at client sites, our flexible working arrangements can help you to achieve a lifestyle balance.

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