Forward Deployed Consultant, Manufacturing

United States Digital Space LLC; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

WFH equipment allowance

Learning & Development stipend

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC in Austin, TX, seeks a Forward Deployed Consultant, Manufacturing, to apply AI to transform industrial operations. You will engage with C-level leaders, define a transformation agenda, and prototype enterprise-grade AI solutions on client data and systems.

You will lead end-to-end Sprint activities, build ROI models, and broaden impact across manufacturing workflows such as NPI, quality, S&OP, and production planning.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in top-tier consulting, forward deployed engineering, solution consulting, or enterprise transformation, weighted toward manufacturing/industrial environments.

Responsibilities

• Partner with senior executives to define an AI transformation agenda and value,
• Lead the initial CxO conversation to demonstrate AI potential for the business.

Skills

Executive engagement

AI transformation

Manufacturing domain

ERP/PLM/MES

Problem solving

Education

Master's degree in engineering or business

Tools

SAP

Teamcenter

Windchill

3DEXPERIENCE

Job description

About the Team

The Professional Services organization at the company is focused on ensuring our Enterprise customers achieve exceptional outcomes through the Innovation Workspace. Our team of strategic advisors, implementation experts, and forward deployed consultants work side-by-side with customers to transform how they collaborate, build, and innovate—powered by agentic AI and the company's world-class platform.

About the Role

As a Forward Deployed Consultant, Manufacturing, you will apply AI solutions to transform and automate the core operating processes of leading industrial enterprises. You will engage directly with C-level executives, help them identify high-impact opportunities, build and test enterprise-grade AI solutions on their own data and systems, and drive measurable business outcomes.

This role sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and technology. You will be paired with an Account Executive against named accounts—hunting for problems worth solving, then proving they can be solved. Generalist FDCs lead client discussions across industries; as the Manufacturing Specialist, you are the dedicated depth they bring in when a pursuit turns on industrial expertise.

What you’ll do

Executive Agenda:

• Partner with senior executives—COO, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Chief Digital Officer, VP Manufacturing, VP Quality—to define an AI transformation agenda the company can attach to

• Lead the initial CxO conversation that creates awareness of what AI makes possible for the business

• Qualify opportunities before committing to a Validation Sprint: sponsor authority, commitment, and the account's potential to become a multi-year, seven-figure relationship

Validation Sprints:

• Co-author the Sprint charter with the AE: the business problem, its value, our approach, exit criteria, and the partnership proposal that follows success

• Run the Sprint end to end—immerse, prioritise, build, read out—developing and testing the solution on the customer's real data and systems

• Take manufacturing processes apart and rebuild them on AI-first principles across five workflows: new product development and gate review, quality and continuous improvement, portfolio and program management, operations and launch readiness, and process development and transformation

• Build using the company's AI Workflows, Prototypes, and Goals, Roadmaps & Delivery capabilities, extended through the company's API, WebSDK, and MCP integrations into ERP, PLM, MES, and quality systems

Value and Conversion:

• Turn Sprint outcomes into a business value story, ROI model, and KPI baseline—grounded in metrics the customer already runs on: gate cycle time, requirement coverage at gate, defect recurrence, cost of poor quality, capacity utilisation, on-time launch rate, ramp-to-full-rate time

• Support executive leadership in delivering the Value Story read-out to the sponsor

• Co-own with the AE the conversion of Sprint outcomes into the partnership proposal and commercial approach

• Define the scope of Professional Services involvement post-sale and hand over cleanly

• Package what you learn and radiate it—internally to Sales, Marketing, and Product, and externally through thought leadership

What you’ll need

• 8+ years intop-tier consulting, forward deployed engineering, solution consulting, or enterprise transformation, weighted toward manufacturing and industrial environments

• Deep understanding ofmanufacturing operating processes: NPI and stage-gate/APQP, engineering change management, quality systems (FMEA, 8D, PPAP), S&OP and production planning, lean and continuous improvement, maintenance and reliability

• Fluency with theindustrial enterprise stack—ERP (SAP or equivalent), PLM (Teamcenter, Windchill, 3DEXPERIENCE), MES, quality management systems—and where the data lives

• Credibility withCOO, Chief Supply Chain Officer, VP Operations, VP Quality, and Plant General Manager stakeholders

• ExceptionalGenAIskills: the company, Cursor, Claude Code and Cowork, ChatGPT, Google and Microsoft suites,MCPintegrations, prompt and context engineering. You canbuild working solutions yourselfand orchestrate an AI Engineer when the build demands it

• Ability to build abefore/after value storywith financial and ROI analysis that survives finance scrutiny

• Abusiness-problem-firstrather than product-first mindset, and the curiosity to take any process apart

• Comfort in both the boardroom and the plant

• Self-starter who operates independently and under ambiguity

• Willing totravelto customer sites up to 40%

What's in it for you

We want you to feel supported, connected, and ready to grow. Our global benefits package generally includes equity, a wellbeing benefit, a WFH equipment allowance, and an annual Learning & Development stipend. Join a diverse team where you can do your best work. Full benefits may differ per location. If you would like to learn more about location-specific benefits, please refer to ourGlobal the company benefits board.

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