Forward Deployed Engineer - Platform (AI)

Ifs1; Staines-upon-Thames; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

IFS is seeking a senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Platform who embeds with product teams to accelerate velocity and enable platform adoption. You will work at the code level to design production-ready solutions on the IFS Cloud platform, implementing event-driven patterns and building reusable tooling.

You will collaborate with the NGA architecture team, translate pain points into roadmap input, and maintain strong ties between R&D and platform consumers.

Qualifications

• Senior, hands-on engineer with cloud-native experience.
• Experience building production systems and debugging in production.
• Able to ship quickly in ambiguous environments and to communicate trade-offs clearly.
• Experience collaborating with platform or infrastructure teams.

Responsibilities

• Embed with product teams and customer engineering to maximise velocity.
• Lead technical discovery to identify bottlenecks, not just symptoms.
• Design and build production-grade solutions on the IFS Cloud platform: workflows, integrations, event-driven patterns, data pipelines.
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve platform friction points preventing shipping at speed.
• Champion and implement event-driven architecture patterns across product teams.
• Build tooling and reference implementations to accelerate adoption of Kairos and Nexus.
• Ship a working first version fast, then harden it with monitoring and real usage feedback.
• Coordinate with the NGA architecture team to shape the Internal Developer Platform (IDP).
• Translate product pain points into actionable platform feedback and roadmap input.
• Collaborate with customer architects and business stakeholders, delivering deep technical work while communicating trade-offs.
• Support flexible and hybrid work models to accommodate diverse needs and foster collaboration.

Skills

Go

React

Next.js

Event-driven architecture

Distributed systems

Cloud-native

Kubernetes

GitOps

IaC

Production systems

Tools

Apache Kafka

RedPanda

PostgreSQL

Job description

As a Forward Deployed Engineer, Platform , you embed directly with product development teams and customer organisations to understand real problems, design real solutions, and own the outcome. You are a force multiplier for developer velocity and platform adoption, working at the sharp end, in the code, unblocking teams, and building the patterns and tooling that make platform adoption feel effortless. This is a high-agency role for a hands‑on senior engineer who thrives in ambiguity and moves fast.

• Embed directly with product teams and customer engineering organisations to maximise developer velocity and reduce GTM timelines
• Lead technical discovery, identify the actual bottleneck, not the presenting symptom
• Along with a dedicated Architecture team, design and build production‑grade solutions on the IFS Cloud platform: workflows, integrations, event‑driven patterns, and data pipelines
• Identify, diagnose, and resolve platform friction points preventing teams from shipping at speed
• Champion and implement event‑driven architecture patterns across product teams
• Build tooling, patterns, and reference implementations that accelerate adoption of Kairos and Nexus, reusable assets that scale your impact beyond the teams you work with directly
• Ship a working first version fast, then harden it: proper monitoring, iteration based on real usage, production quality
• Work alongside the dedicated NGA architecture team to drive the requirements for the Internal Developer Platform (IDP), the core developer experience touchpoint through which product teams will consume Kairos and Nexus
• Translate product team pain points into actionable platform feedback and roadmap input
• Work directly with customer architects, IT leads, and business stakeholders, going deep in code while communicating clearly about trade‑offs
• Be the connective tissue between IFS R&D and the teams consuming the platform, your field insights shape what gets built next

• Backend: Go
• Frontend: React (with Next.js)
• Messaging / Streaming: Apache Kafka / RedPanda
• Data: PostgreSQL

You’re comfortable operating in a cloud‑native environment: Kubernetes, containers, GitOps, IaC, Software Defined Infrastructure

You have a solid understanding of event‑driven and distributed systems architecture, and you apply it pragmatically in delivery contexts

You've built and owned production systems (not just prototypes) and know how to debug things that go wrong in the real world

You thrive in ambiguity, you can turn a fuzzy problem into a scoped, shipped system without waiting to be asked

You communicate well with non‑technical stakeholders without dumbing it down

You have experience working in or alongside platform or infrastructure teams

Customer‑facing technical work is in your background, you know how to build trust with engineering teams outside your own

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.