Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (Agentic AI)

Hedgehog Lab; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday

Impact Days (5)

Learning budget

Enhanced family leave

Job summary

Hedgehog Lab is seeking an inventive engineer to be the first on a new client engagement, shaping architecture and proving out what is possible with AI-enabled tooling. You’ll help design and validate concepts before a delivery team scales the work.

You’ll collaborate with an agentic team, travel to client sites as needed, and contribute patterns your client teams can own, from ADRs to testing and reviews. No strict office days—mix site visits with remote collaboration.

Qualifications

• Experience with TypeScript and Python across the full stack (NestJS or FastAPI).
• Hands-on use of AI agents in real workflows; GitHub activity counts.
• Ability to simplify messy problems into shippable solutions.
• Comfortable explaining technical thinking to non-technical audiences.
• Strong writing skills, ADRs and documentation.
• Pragmatic architecture sized to PoC/pilot/production.

Responsibilities

• Turn client goals into architecture and technology choices with ADRs.
• Build proofs of concept that validate design.
• Set up tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents.
• Shape testing and code review processes.
• Pair with engineers and create patterns for client teams to own.

Skills

TypeScript

Python

NestJS

FastAPI

AI agents

GitHub

Problem solving

Communication

Documentation

Architecture

Consulting

Client presentations

Job description

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

You'll be the first engineer on a new client engagement, before there's a team or plan, working out what's possible and building the proof a delivery team can scale from.

What's in it for you

You'll decide how the work gets done, with AI tools that aren't locked down. On a recent 19-week AI platform build, 80.5% of authored commits carried verifiable AI co-authorship.

You'll work alongside our agentic team and help shape how we do agentic engineering. You don't need to arrive an expert.

Who you'll work for

hedgehog lab is a UK digital product consultancy and certified B Corp with 20 years behind us, helping public and private sector clients in healthcare, commerce, media and education.

Project teams are 5 to 15 people: agentic engineers, software engineers, QA and designers.

What you'll do

• Turning client goals into architecture and technology choices, recorded in ADRs

• Building proofs of concept that validate the design

• Setting up tooling, workflows and guardrails for AI coding agents

• Shaping testing and code review

• Pairing with engineers and leaving patterns client teams can own

Benefits

• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays

• Five paid Impact Days a year for learning, volunteering or innovation

• Learning budget plus time for training and conferences

• Enhanced family leave

Where you'll work

There are no set office days. You'll come into an office or client site for key meetings and workshops.

You'll need to live within 50 miles of our Leeds, Manchester or Newcastle offices. You'll also need to be happy travelling to clients around Leeds and Manchester, some of whom want more time on site.

Essential experience

You'll be in front of clients from week one. If you'd rather keep your head down and code, this isn't for you.

• Commercial TypeScript or Python experience across the full stack (NestJS or FastAPI, for example)

• Hands-on use of AI agents in a real workflow, at work or in your own projects. A GitHub repo counts.

• You've taken a messy, poorly defined problem and shipped something that works

• Comfortable explaining your thinking to non-technical people

• Clear writing, especially ADRs and docs

• Pragmatic architecture, sized to POC, pilot or production

Desirable experience

• Consulting, professional services or forward deployed experience

• Experience presenting to clients or contributing to pitches