AI Frontline Lead Engineer — Client-Facing, Regulated

EY; Kansas City (MO); Hybrid; USD 126,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Medical and dental coverage

Pension and 401(k) plans

Paid time off

Job summary

EY is seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own end-to-end delivery of AI-enabled systems within a single client engagement in highly regulated industries such as tax, finance, and risk.

As the technical authority in an Advanced Forward Engineering cell, you will embed with the client, design critical components, manage tradeoffs, and drive production-ready outcomes.

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 (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 ambiguous business needs into an executable technical solution.
• Serve as the primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders, managing expectations and tradeoffs.
• Stay hands-on, personally 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 work of the cell’s Implementation Engineer and Data Engineer, ensuring integrations and data readiness.
• Ensure every deployment meets safety, integrity, and cost constraints, partnering with control authorities and the AFE on safe-to-ship decisions.

Skills

Strong outcome ownership

Excellent client presence

Genuinely hands-on

Strong technical judgment

Effective communication of tradeoffs

Autonomy in small teams

Pragmatic mindset

Education

Bachelor'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-enabled systems within a single client engagement in highly regulated industries such as tax, finance, and risk.

As the technical authority in an Advanced Forward Engineering cell, you will embed with the client, design critical components, manage tradeoffs, and drive production-ready outcomes.