Head of Forward-Deployed AI Engineering

GSK; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

GSK’s Enterprise AI team is seeking a senior leader to head Forward Deployed Engineering. You will shape strategy, hire and mentor the FDE team, and manage BU sponsor relationships to deliver AI-enabled solutions from PoCs to production.

You will operate at the frontier of AI‑augmented engineering, ensuring governance, robust delivery, and collaboration with Solutions/Operations teams in a regulated biopharma setting.

Qualifications

• PhD or master’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 12 or more years of experience in software engineering and AI/ML engineering, with significant time leading senior engineering teams or functions.
• Demonstrated experience taking AI ideas from sketch to working software at speed, in customer‑facing engineering roles.
• Strong technical depth in GenAI patterns: agents, multi‑agent orchestration, RAG, and evaluation.
• Daily use of AI coding agents (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Databricks AI Assistant) as the primary mode of development.
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and developing senior engineering talent.
• Track record of representing engineering functions to senior business stakeholders.
• Hands‑on experience with Openclaw/Hermes agents.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function — strategy, structure, hiring, development, and standards for the function.
• Hire, mentor, and develop the FDE team — creating development paths from G8 through to G5.
• Set the standards for AI-native engineering practice within the function — agent workflows, prompt and pattern libraries, handoff hygiene.
• Own relationships with Director and Senior Director‑level BU sponsors across business units that bring AI use cases to Enterprise AI.
• Take on the most strategic FDE engagements personally — the ones that set precedents for the function.
• Make and defend portfolio‑level kill/continue decisions across FDE engagements with BU and Enterprise AI leadership.
• Coordinate with the Solutions Engineering and Operations Engineering functions on the delivery pipeline; represent FDE in Enterprise AI leadership forums.
• Influence vendor strategy and tooling choices for AI-native engineering practice within Enterprise AI.
• Ensure the FDE function operates within Code Orange, Responsible AI, and Accountability Report governance from the prototype stage onward.
• Provide regular reporting to Enterprise AI leadership on FDE function performance — engagement pipeline, outcomes, team development, and capacity.

Job description

GSK’s Enterprise AI team is seeking a senior leader to head Forward Deployed Engineering. You will shape strategy, hire and mentor the FDE team, and manage BU sponsor relationships to deliver AI-enabled solutions from PoCs to production.

You will operate at the frontier of AI‑augmented engineering, ensuring governance, robust delivery, and collaboration with Solutions/Operations teams in a regulated biopharma setting.