AI Forward Engineering Lead: Client-Facing & Hands-On

EY; Detroit (MI); Hybrid; USD 126,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Total Rewards package

Medical and dental coverage

Pension and 401(k)

Job summary

EY is seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems for a single client engagement in highly regulated industries. Embedded with the client, the role leads a small cell, designs critical components, ensures production readiness, and manages tradeoffs with stakeholders to drive successful outcomes.

The position requires seasoned engineering judgment, strong client presence, and the ability to deliver in complex, regulated settings with

Qualifications

• 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems 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 (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, 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

Hands-on engineering

Client presence

Technical judgment

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science

Tools

Cloud platforms

Orchestration frameworks

LLM-powered services

Job description

EY is seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems for a single client engagement in highly regulated industries. Embedded with the client, the role leads a small cell, designs critical components, ensures production readiness, and manages tradeoffs with stakeholders to drive successful outcomes.

The position requires seasoned engineering judgment, strong client presence, and the ability to deliver in complex, regulated settings with