Director, Forward Deployed Engineering

nimblegravity; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

nimblegravity is seeking a leader to direct a forward deployed engineering team that translates ambiguous client needs into production AI systems. You will blend people leadership with hands-on technical guidance, working directly with clients to shape solutions and improve delivery practices across concurrent engagements.

You will hire and mentor engineers, drive architecture discussions, and prototype implementations involving AI agents, tool use, and integrations, while collaborating with

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience.
• 5+ years leading engineers or technical teams.
• Experience delivering client-facing work through consulting or forward deployed roles.
• Hands-on experience with large language models and agent-based patterns.
• Strong Python or TypeScript skills with API design, CI/CD, and cloud fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Hire, coach, and grow engineers, setting expectations for technical quality and client communication.
• Manage scope, quality, timelines, and results across multiple client engagements.
• Lead client demonstrations, architecture discussions, and delivery workshops.
• Stay close to implementation by prototyping and reviewing designs involving AI agents and integrations.
• Identify next phases of work and shape them with account leaders.
• Develop reusable engineering patterns and playbooks with cross-team collaboration.

Skills

Software engineering

Leadership

Client-facing consulting

LLM / AI agents

Python

TypeScript

API design

CI/CD

Cloud fundamentals

Communication

Job description

Role overview

Lead a forward deployed engineering team that turns ambiguous client needs into working AI systems in production. You will combine people leadership and delivery accountability with hands-on technical guidance, working directly with clients to shape solutions and helping the team build practices that improve delivery across concurrent engagements.

Responsibilities

• Hire, coach, and grow engineers, setting expectations for technical quality, clear client communication, and ownership of outcomes.
• Manage scope, quality, timelines, and results across multiple client engagements.
• Lead client demonstrations, architecture discussions, and delivery workshops to explore how AI tools can address needs in the client’s environment.
• Stay close to implementation by prototyping, reviewing designs, and unblocking work involving AI agents, tool use, integrations, and evaluation.
• Identify likely next phases of work and collaborate with account leaders to shape and scope them.
• Develop reusable engineering patterns, accelerators, and playbooks, and work with data, cloud, and digital engineering teams on end-to-end delivery.

Requirements

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years leading engineers or technical teams.
• Experience delivering client-facing work through consulting, solutions engineering, or forward deployed roles.
• Hands‑on experience building with large language models and agent‑based patterns, including tool use, retrieval‑augmented generation, workflow orchestration, and evaluation.
• Strong Python or TypeScript skills, with sound API design, CI/CD, and cloud fundamentals across at least one major cloud provider.
• Ability to explain complex technical ideas clearly to both executives and engineers.
• Track record of taking ambiguous problems through to production.

Nice to have

Experience with AI development tools, model APIs, or the Model Context Protocol; enterprise AI governance, security, or responsible‑use practices; a data science or formal engineering background; or consulting and professional services experience.