Forward-Deployed AI Delivery Lead — 5–15 Engineers

Amazon Web Services (AWS); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 213,000 - 288,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Web Services, Inc. seeks a Forward Deployed Engineering Manager to lead a pod of 5–15 engineers embedded with strategic enterprise customers, owning delivery execution and team development. The role drives production AI systems and sets engineering standards across multiple engagements.

The manager will mentor engineers, shape technical direction, and partner with AWS leadership to ensure customer satisfaction and scalable AI solutions.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering team management
• 7+ years of Software Engineer, Software Developer, or related occupational experience
• Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
• 3+ years of experience working in an Agile, startup, or rapidly scaling environment
• Experience communicating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
• Experience with agentic and spec-driven development (developing AI agents a plus)
• Experience building or deploying AI/ML applications in production environments at scale

Responsibilities

• Own delivery across one or more customer engagements. Staff and structure the team for optimal customer coverage. Define execution cadences and ensure consistent engineering quality across active programs. Requires 30–50% travel.
• Provide technical oversight for customer AI programs within your scope. Review architecture decisions and ensure alignment with customer needs and AWS best practices. Resolve technical blockers and elevate strategically when needed.
• Ensure operational standards, evaluation frameworks, and production readiness criteria are met for AI systems your team builds. Drive improvements that raise the operational bar within your scope.
• Hire, develop, and retain FDE talent. Coach junior FDEs toward independence and career growth. Drive performance management and create development plans. Contribute to hiring bar and calibration standards.
• Identify opportunities to expand AI adoption within your customer engagements. Ensure learnings are codified into reusable patterns and fed back into the broader FDE practice.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Communication to leadership

Agile/startup experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Math

Tools

React

TypeScript

Python

Go

Job description

Amazon Web Services, Inc. seeks a Forward Deployed Engineering Manager to lead a pod of 5–15 engineers embedded with strategic enterprise customers, owning delivery execution and team development. The role drives production AI systems and sets engineering standards across multiple engagements.

The manager will mentor engineers, shape technical direction, and partner with AWS leadership to ensure customer satisfaction and scalable AI solutions.