Forward Deployed Engineer

hedgehog lab; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Hedgehog Lab is hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead early client engagements and define architectural directions for live AI transformations. You will own technical design, prove concepts, and work directly with customer teams to solve their toughest challenges.

You operate at the intersection of technology and client relationships, shaping projects from day one and ensuring the delivered work aligns with business goals.

Qualifications

• Real experience using AI agents to build production software, not copy-pasting from ChatGPT.
• The ability to break down a complicated, poorly defined problem and ship something that works.
• Strong TypeScript or Python, comfortable across the full stack, with frameworks such as NestJS or FastAPI.
• Experience meeting and presenting to clients directly.
• Strong written communication, especially for ADRs and docs others rely on.
• Experience in consulting, professional services or a forward-deployed role.
• A pragmatic take on architecture, sized to POC, pilot or production.

Responsibilities

• Turn customer goals into a solution architecture and technology choices.
• Build proofs of concept that validate your design and hand off cleanly.
• Define the agentic engineering pipeline: tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents.
• Shape the quality strategy, including test approach and code review.
• Make other engineers more capable, pairing on real work and leaving patterns client teams can own.
• Own the architectural decision records.

Skills

AI agents

Client relations

Full-stack

Code reviews

ADR/docs

Communication

Problem solving

Tools

TypeScript

Python

NestJS

FastAPI

Job description

Type: Full-time, permanent

Working pattern: Flexible, home, office or hybrid

Location: Within 50 miles of Leeds or Manchester

We're hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer to lead the earliest, most open stage of our client work.

This is a forward deployed engineering role that combines hands-on technical ownership with a prominent client relationship, working directly with customer teams to solve their hardest challenges

You'll be the first engineer through the door on a new client engagement. Before there's a team, before there's a plan, with no one ahead of you telling you how to build it.

Just a client trusting you to work out what's possible, then build the proof a delivery team can scale from.

Most engineering roles start once the hard decisions are made. This one starts before them.

If that sounds exciting rather than daunting, this could be for you.

Why you'd want this

You decide how the work gets done.

Most companies wrap their AI accounts in governance and access controls that block half of what's useful. We don't. Swap one AI tool for another, wire them into your stack, whatever suits the problem. No permission needed.

The work spans sectors, from healthcare and commerce to media and education, and it's live transformation that ships.

On a recent 19-week build, an AI insights platform turning complex data into clear, multilingual analysis, AI was embedded from day three and 80.5% of authored commits carried verifiable AI co-authorship.

We call the approach Run: deliver something the business needs now, use that work to set better engineering practices, and leave the team stronger than you found it. You're close to clients from the start, so the effect of your decisions is visible.

About Hedgehog Lab

We're a UK digital product consultancy and a certified B Corp, with 20 years behind us and teams in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and London.

AI reaches beyond the engineering floor. Around 40 people across the business, recruitment and operations included, are working out how AI changes their own roles.

What You'll Do

• Turn customer goals into a solution architecture and technology choices
• Build proofs of concept that validate your design and hand off cleanly
• Define the agentic engineering pipeline: tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents
• Shape the quality strategy, including test approach and code review
• Make other engineers more capable, pairing on real work and leaving patterns client teams can own
• Own the architectural decision records

Who's This Is For

You'll be in front of clients from the first week, not just building behind the scenes. Shaping ambiguous problems and explaining your thinking to non-technical people is core to the job. If you'd rather keep your head down and code, this isn't for you.

Experience You'll Need To Be Considered

• Real experience using AI agents to build production software, not copy-pasting from ChatGPT
• The ability to break down a complicated, poorly defined problem and ship something that works
• Strong TypeScript or Python, comfortable across the full stack, with frameworks such as NestJS or FastAPI
• Experience meeting and presenting to clients directly
• Strong written communication, especially for ADRs and docs others rely on
• Experience in consulting, professional services or a forward-deployed role
• A pragmatic take on architecture, sized to POC, pilot or production

Where you'll work

While there's no set number of days you're required to be in the office each week, we really value spending time together in person, both as a team and with our clients.

There will be times when we'll need you to be in one of our offices or at a client site for important meetings, workshops and key moments.

To make that work, you'll need to be based within 50 miles of either our Leeds or Manchester offices.