Forward Deployed AI Engineer

Reach Velocity - Emerging Technology ?? ??; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Reach Velocity - Emerging Technology is seeking a hands-on Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join our AI team at the intersection of AI, commercial operations, and energy/commodities trading. You will work directly with traders and commercial users to identify high-value AI opportunities and deploy practical AI solutions.

The role requires ownership from business problem through production, collaborating with foundational AI and platform engineering teams to design, build, and deploy agentic AI

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in AI Engineering, Software Engineering, ML, Data Science, or related technical field.
• Strong Python development skills and solid software engineering fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with Generative AI, LLMs, RAG, prompt engineering, tool/function calling, and agentic workflows.
• Experience with frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or equivalent.
• Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work with both technical and commercial stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with trading and commercial teams to understand workflows and identify AI opportunities.
• Design and deploy LLM/agentic AI solutions from prototype through production.
• Build and integrate RAG, tool calling, MCP servers, data connectors, and domain-specific AI capabilities.
• Apply AI techniques including LLMs, NLP, RAG, time-series forecasting, and optimization to pricing, supply/demand, trade-flow, and operational problems.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions and communicate requirements back to engineering teams.
• Present AI capabilities and limitations to traders and senior stakeholders and drive adoption.

Skills

AI Engineering experience

Python development

LLMs & agentic workflows

Tools

LangChain

LlamaIndex

AWS

Job description

We are looking for a hands-on Forward Deployed AI Engineer to join a growing AI team working at the intersection of AI, commercial operations, and energy/commodities trading.

You will work directly with commercial users to identify high-value AI opportunities and design, build, and deploy agentic AI solutions that solve real business problems.

This role requires someone who can take ownership from business problem → technical solution → prototype → production, while collaborating with foundational AI and platform engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with trading and commercial teams to understand workflows and identify AI opportunities.
• Design and deploy LLM/agentic AI solutions from prototype through production.
• Build and integrate RAG, tool calling, MCP servers, data connectors, and domain-specific AI capabilities.
• Apply AI techniques including LLMs, NLP, RAG, time-series forecasting, and optimization to pricing, supply/demand, trade-flow, and operational problems.
• Translate business requirements into technical solutions and communicate requirements back to engineering teams.
• Present AI capabilities and limitations to traders and senior stakeholders and drive adoption.

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in AI Engineering, Software Engineering, ML, Data Science, or a related technical field.
• Strong Python development skills and solid software engineering fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with Generative AI, LLMs, RAG, prompt engineering, tool/function calling, and agentic workflows.
• Experience with frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, or equivalent.
• Experience with AWS or other cloud platforms.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work directly with both technical and commercial stakeholders.

The client is particularly interested in candidates coming from:

• Oil & Gas
• Energy
• Commodities / Commodity Trading
• Power & Gas Markets
• Trading, Risk, or Market Analytics

Candidates with an understanding of commodity markets, energy flows, trading workflows, pricing, supply/demand, or commercial operations will be strongly preferred.

Ideal Candidate

A business-facing AI builder who can understand a commercial problem, identify where AI can add value, build the solution, and get it into production.