AI Forward Engineering Lead — Client‑Facing & Hands‑On

Ernst & Young Oman; Chantilly (VA); Hybrid; USD 126,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Paid time off

Medical and dental coverage

401(k) plan

Job summary

EY seeks a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems for a single client engagement in regulated industries. You are the technical authority within an Advanced Forward Engineering delivery cell, turning ambiguous business problems into secure, production-grade solutions.

You’ll lead a small senior team, embed with the client, manage tradeoffs, and ensure safe-to-ship deployments while upholding rigorous governance and client trust.

Qualifications

• 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems, ideally in regulated or client-facing contexts.
• Hands-on engineering depth across integration-heavy architectures, cloud platforms, and distributed systems.
• 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 outcome delivery for the cell, including scoping, tradeoffs, technical direction, and production readiness.
• Embed directly with the client to define the real problem and translate needs into an executable technical solution.
• Serve as primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders, managing expectations and trust.
• Stay hands-on, designing and building critical parts of the solution and diving into client systems when needed.
• Deploy, adapt, and stabilize solutions in the client environment, owning release readiness and runtime accountability.
• Direct the cell’s Implementation Engineer and Data Engineer to ensure cohesive, production-grade outcomes.
• Ensure deployments meet safety, integrity, and cost constraints in regulated environments.

Skills

Outcome ownership

Client presence

Hands-on

Technical judgment

Communicate tradeoffs

Autonomy in senior teams

Pragmatic mindset

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science

Tools

Orchestration frameworks

LLM-backed services

Cloud platforms

Job description

EY seeks a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems for a single client engagement in regulated industries. You are the technical authority within an Advanced Forward Engineering delivery cell, turning ambiguous business problems into secure, production-grade solutions.

You’ll lead a small senior team, embed with the client, manage tradeoffs, and ensure safe-to-ship deployments while upholding rigorous governance and client trust.