AI Forward Engineering Cell Lead – Hands-On & Client-Facing

EY; Toledo (OH); Hybrid; USD 126,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Medical and dental coverage

Pension and 401(k)

Paid time off

Job summary

EY is seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems within a single client engagement in highly regulated industries. The role is embedded with the client, remains hands-on, and guides tradeoffs, architecture, and production readiness to deliver secure, production-grade outcomes.

You will lead a small cell, set technical direction, interface with stakeholders, and manage deployments from design to release, ensuring safety, cost control,

Qualifications

• 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems.
• Hands-on engineering across integration-heavy architectures, cloud platforms, and distributed systems.
• Experience with modern AI-enabled stacks (agentic systems, orchestration frameworks, LLM-backed services).

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end outcome delivery for the cell, including scoping, tradeoffs, technical direction, and production readiness, taking accountability for the business outcome, not just the code.
• Embed directly with the client to define the real problem and translate ambiguous business needs into an executable technical solution under regulatory and environmental constraints.
• Serve as the primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders, managing expectations, communicating tradeoffs, and sustaining the trust that drives adoption.
• Stay hands-on, personally designing and building critical parts of the solution, and diving deep into the client’s systems, data, and codebase when the engagement requires it.
• Deploy, adapt, and stabilize solutions in the client environment using supported templates and profiles, owning release readiness and runtime accountability for what the cell ships.
• Direct the work of the cell’s Implementation Engineer and Data Engineer, ensuring integrations, orchestration, and data readiness come together into a coherent, production-grade outcome.
• Ensure every deployment meets safety, integrity, and cost constraints, partnering with control authorities and the Distinguished AFE on safe-to-ship decisions for regulated environments.

Skills

Outcome ownership

Client presence

Hands-on engineering

Technical judgment

Clear communication

Autonomy

Regulatory awareness

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

EY is seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems within a single client engagement in highly regulated industries. The role is embedded with the client, remains hands-on, and guides tradeoffs, architecture, and production readiness to deliver secure, production-grade outcomes.

You will lead a small cell, set technical direction, interface with stakeholders, and manage deployments from design to release, ensuring safety, cost control,