Forward Deployed Engineering Lead

Orbital; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Orbital Industries is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineering Lead to build and scale the FDE function. You will own technical standards, delivery models and a growing team, delivering complex deployments hands-on while collaborating with customers.

You will create pragmatic architectures, guide integration efforts across CurieOS, and hire exceptional engineers to extend capability across Orbital's expanding customer base.

Qualifications

• Experience leading deployments with customers.
• Ability to translate problems into technical approaches.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and code discipline.

Responsibilities

• Deliver deployments hands-on across industrial R&D and production.
• Drive customer adoption so CurieOS is used daily by scientists/engineers.
• Write production code, design architectures, build integrations.
• Own the technical quality from prototype to production.
• Design systems connecting software, data and hardware components.
• Develop reusable integration patterns for diverse environments.
• Hire, develop and grow Forward Deployed Engineers.
• Set KPIs, measure outcomes and communicate to executives.

Skills

Forward Deployed Engineering

Production code delivery

Team leadership

Systems integration

Architectural design

Job description

Orbital Industries is an AI Industrial company, with frontier AI embedded at every step in the production of critical physical products - from creating advanced materials to engineering and manufacturing.Every Orbital Industries product is developed using CurieOS, our AI operating system, uniting AI-automated hardware engineering with AI-designed material science to achieve breakthrough real-world performance. We also offer CurieOS to our customers and partners, extending the same platform and workflows that power Orbital Industries to their own teams and products.We have an ambitious mission and need excellent people in all our teams - AI research, operations, advanced materials, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and manufacturing.Working at Orbital Industries means working in vertically integrated teams across the full stack, from molecules to manufacturing. We're looking for people who have a love of physical technology, curiosity in AI and a desire to learn.Role Overview Orbital's AI software platform, CurieOS, is used by scientists and engineers to design and build products serving critical industries. Powering this software are our world leading AI models in advanced materials, hardware engineering and simulation.As Forward Deployed Engineering Lead at Orbital you will build and lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, owning its technical standards, delivery model and team. You are an engineering leader who builds alongside customers, not a delivery leader who manages engineers. You will deliver complex deployments hands-on while hiring and developing the team that scales this capability across Orbital's growing customer base.First and foremost, we want to work with someone with a love of craftsmanship, continual learning and building systems that scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver deployments hands-on, across the breadth of industrial R&D
• Drive customer adoption so CurieOS becomes how their scientists and engineers work day-to-day
• Deliver complex customer deployments hands-on, writing production code, designing architectures, building integrations and debugging issues across CurieOS and customer systems
• Own the technical quality of deployments from prototype through production, including reliability, maintainability and operational performance
• Design and build systems that connect heterogeneous software, data and physical infrastructure, from simulation campaigns and digital twins to lab instruments, test rigs and CAD/PLM systems
• Develop reusable integration patterns that allow CurieOS to operate reliably across complex customer environments
• Own delivery end-to-end
• Embed with customer teams to understand ambiguous, high-value R&D problems, challenge assumptions and identify where CurieOS can deliver meaningful impact
• Translate those problems into a technical approach, milestones and acceptance criteria, making pragmatic architecture and scope trade-offs as you learn
• Own the engagement from initial technical discovery through implementation, production deployment and adoption
• Set KPIs per engagement (screening throughput, design-cycle reduction, experiments avoided), measure pre/post and report outcomes to executive sponsors
• Build and lead the team
• Build and lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, owning its technical standards, engineering practices and delivery model
• Hire, develop and manage exceptional Forward Deployed Engineers across diverse scientific and engineering domains
• Set the technical bar through code and architecture review, and act as the escalation point for the most difficult technical decisions and production issues
• Staff engagements based on technical complexity and individual strengths, while developing engineers into increasingly independent technical leaders
• Codify successful approaches into reusable architectures, tooling and playbooks so the team becomes more effective as it scales

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience in enterprise software technical delivery or forward deployed engineering roles, you have led complex deployments and written production code alongside customers
• Experience building a forward deployed engineering or solutions function, hiring the team, setting the standards and defining the delivery model
• The ability to move fluidly between strategy conversations with R&D leadership and debugging sessions with engineers
• A track record of succeeding in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where requirements evolve through direct iteration with users
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, you still build, and your technical judgement is respected by the engineers you lead
• A genuine interest in building software that enables breakthrough scientific and industrial applications

Orbital is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.