Field-Facing AI Platform Lead

McKinsey & Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 216,700 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Continuous learning

Voice that matters

Global community

World-class benefits

Job summary

McKinsey & Company seeks a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to lead deployment of a next-generation AI platform across cloud and on‑prem environments. You’ll work closely with clients and McKinsey teams, guiding architecture, delivery standards, and production readiness for scalable AI solutions.

You will mentor engineers, shape delivery practices, and help operationalize AI systems across industries. A strong background in software engineering, cloud infrastructure, and client-facing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in computer science, ML, statistics, math, engineering, AI, or related field.
• 8+ years in software, platform, or infrastructure engineering with enterprise-scale deployments.
• Strong Python and modern web framework experience; deep cloud-based systems expertise.

Responsibilities

• Lead deployment and scaling of a next-gen AI platform across cloud and hybrid infra.
• Own platform delivery lifecycle and guide multi-workstream deployments.
• Collaborate with data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams for production readiness.

Skills

Full-stack engineering

Python

React/NextJS

Cloud platforms

Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure as Code

Production systems troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor’s in CS, ML, statistics, math, engineering or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Terraform

Ansible

Helm

Job description

McKinsey & Company seeks a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to lead deployment of a next-generation AI platform across cloud and on‑prem environments. You’ll work closely with clients and McKinsey teams, guiding architecture, delivery standards, and production readiness for scalable AI solutions.

You will mentor engineers, shape delivery practices, and help operationalize AI systems across industries. A strong background in software engineering, cloud infrastructure, and client-facing