Head of Forward Deployed AI Engineering

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

Job summary

GSK plc is seeking a senior leader to head the Forward Deployed Engineering function within Enterprise AI. You will shape strategy, structure, and standards while remaining hands-on on strategic engagements with AI/ML technologies and vendor governance.

You will manage a team of engineers, establish delivery patterns, and sponsor senior business-unit collaborations to translate AI opportunities into tangible outcomes across vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines at scale.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of software and AI/ML engineering, with significant time leading senior engineering teams or functions.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven track record of taking AI ideas from sketch to working software at speed in customer-facing engineering roles.
• Strong technical depth in GenAI patterns, including agents, multi‑agent orchestration, RAG, and evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, owning strategy, structure, hiring, development, and standards, with a clear engagement pipeline that delivers at pace.
• Hire, mentor, and develop the FDE team, creating development paths with milestones and active coaching.
• Set the standards for AI‑native engineering practice within the function — agentic delivery‑automation workflows, delivery bot meshes, prompt and pattern libraries, and handoff hygiene.
• Set the bar for AI, ML, and data science rigor across the function, including evaluation standards, experimental design, and model validation, acting as the final technical authority on modeling approach for strategic engagements.
• Own relationships with Director and Senior Director‑level business unit sponsors, bringing AI use cases to Enterprise AI and sustaining engagement through the delivery cycle.
• Take on the most strategic FDE engagements personally, staying hands‑on on engagements that set precedents.
• Make and defend portfolio‑level kill/continue decisions across FDE engagements with business unit and Enterprise AI leadership.
• Track frontier of AI/ML research and translate advances into practical guidance for the team.
• Coordinate with Solutions Engineering and Operations Engineering on the delivery pipeline and represent FDE in leadership forums.
• Influence vendor strategy and tooling choices for AI‑native engineering practice within Enterprise AI.
• Build governance in by design, ensuring FDE operates within governance from prototype onward.

Skills

AI Frameworks

Algorithm Optimization

Artificial Neural Networks

Computer Programming

Deep Learning

Feature Engineering

GCP ML

ML Operations

Azure AI

Model Evaluation

Model Training

Model Validation

SDLC

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science

Master's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

Databricks AI Assistant

Job description

GSK plc is seeking a senior leader to head the Forward Deployed Engineering function within Enterprise AI. You will shape strategy, structure, and standards while remaining hands-on on strategic engagements with AI/ML technologies and vendor governance.

You will manage a team of engineers, establish delivery patterns, and sponsor senior business-unit collaborations to translate AI opportunities into tangible outcomes across vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines at scale.