AI Forward Engineering Lead — Client-Embedded, Hands-On

EY; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 126,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Medical and dental coverage

401(k) plan

Paid time off

Job summary

EY is seeking an experienced Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems within a client engagement in highly regulated industries. You will be embedded with the client, maintaining hands-on coding while guiding tradeoffs and ensuring production readiness.

Ideal candidates bring 8+ years delivering enterprise systems, strong cloud and distributed systems expertise, and a proven track record of leading technical teams while maintaining individual contributor

Qualifications

• 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems in regulated or client-facing contexts.
• Hands-on engineering depth across integration-heavy architectures and cloud platforms.
• Experience with modern AI-enabled application stacks (e.g., agentic systems, orchestration frameworks, LLM-backed services).
• Proven ability to operate in forward-deployed, customer-facing, or solutions-architecture roles, owning outcomes end to end.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a small technical team while remaining an individual contributor.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills, including managing client expectations under pressure.
• Solid understanding of software delivery lifecycle, quality gates, and production readiness in enterprise settings.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery for the cell, including scoping, tradeoffs, technical direction, and production readiness.
• Embed directly with the client to translate business needs into executable technical solutions.
• Serve as the primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders.
• Stay hands-on, designing and building critical parts of the solution as needed.
• Deploy, adapt, and stabilize solutions in the client environment with release readiness in mind.
• Direct the work of the cell’s Implementation Engineer and Data Engineer.
• Ensure deployments meet safety, integrity, and cost constraints with regulator alignment.

Skills

Outcome ownership

Client-facing

Hands-on coding

AI-enabled stacks

Solutions architecture

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

SDLC / production readiness

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS

Tools

Cloud platforms

Distributed systems

AI governance tools

Job description

EY is seeking an experienced Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems within a client engagement in highly regulated industries. You will be embedded with the client, maintaining hands-on coding while guiding tradeoffs and ensuring production readiness.

Ideal candidates bring 8+ years delivering enterprise systems, strong cloud and distributed systems expertise, and a proven track record of leading technical teams while maintaining individual contributor