Forward Deployed Engineer

AHEAD; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

401(k)

Paid company holidays

Paid time off

Paid parental and caregiver leave

Job summary

AHEAD is seeking a Forward Deployed Engineer to design, build, and run production AI applications on enterprise GPT platforms. You will work with business stakeholders and a cross-functional team to deliver AI-enabled solutions end-to-end, from discovery to rollout and optimization.

The role emphasizes translating ambiguous needs into practical AI patterns, including orchestration, model integration, observability, and secure deployment, within a collaborative, embedded team model.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Data and Analytics.
• Experience in Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Integration Engineer, Automation Engineer, or similar roles.
• Experience designing or supporting AI-enabled solutions in production environments.
• Familiarity with evaluation approaches and quality metrics.
• Knowledge of AI patterns such as retrieval-augmented generation and human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Ability to integrate enterprise applications via APIs, webhooks, and automation tools.

Responsibilities

• Build and ship agents and multi-step workflows on Enterprise GPT Platforms.
• Apply AI solution patterns including RAG, orchestration, and API-based automation.
• Create connections to ingest data from Salesforce, ServiceNow, SharePoint/Teams, email, and internal APIs.
• Extend capabilities with MCP-based integrations and context-aware workflows.
• Ensure solutions are secure, reliable, observable, and compliant with enterprise standards.
• Create reusable templates and solution patterns across teams.
• Identify business friction and rapidly prototype MVPs into scalable solutions.
• Partner with stakeholders to prioritize high-impact use cases.

Skills

AI design

Workflow orchestration

Agent development

API integration

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Data and Analytics

Tools

Glean

Claude

Agent Builder

n8n

Zapier

Make

Salesforce

ServiceNow

SharePoint/Teams

REST APIs

Webhooks

Job description

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived. We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) is a hands-on role embedded within AHEAD's internal AI transformation function. You will design, build, and run production AI applications on enterprise GPT platforms, including custom agents, workflows, connectors, and integrations. You will operate as the technical build resource within a cross-functional delivery team, partnering closely with business stakeholders, a transformation consultant, and an adoption lead to support one of AHEAD's key domains, such as Services, Go-to-Market, or Corporate & Technology. This person owns the full solution lifecycle from discovery and design through build, rollout, optimization, and ongoing support.

This role is well suited for someone who enjoys working directly with business teams, translating ambiguous needs into practical AI-enabled solutions, and building production AI patterns such as orchestration, model integration, evaluation, observability, and secure enterprise deployment. Success in the role requires comfort working inside a shared team model where solution design, user adoption, and business outcomes are delivered in close coordination rather than in isolation.

Duties/Responsibilities

Build on the Enterprise GPT Platforms

• Design and ship agents and multi-step workflows using Glean, Claude, and other GPT platforms and applying platform tools such as Agent Builder, actions, MCP tools, and adjacent automations (e.g., n8n, Zapier, Make)

• Apply AI solution patterns such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), workflow orchestration, agent-assisted processes, model integration, API-based automation, and human-in-the-loop review

Integrate & Orchestrate

• Create connections to ingest data from enterprise systems like Salesforce, ServiceNow, SharePoint/Teams, email, and internal APIs

• Extend platform capabilities through MCP-based integrations and context-aware workflows that improve the usefulness and reach of AI solutions

• Implement custom services and integrations, including REST APIs and webhooks, when platform-native patterns or existing automations are not sufficient

• Ensure solutions are secure, reliable, observable, and compliant with enterprise standards

• Create reusable templates, components, and solution patterns that can be applied across teams and use cases

Identify & Solve Business Friction Points

• Proactively surface pain points across business workflows and reimagine them leveraging the best available technology to create impact

• Rapidly prototype, validate with real users, and harden MVPs into scalable, production solutions

• Partner with stakeholders to prioritize high-impact use cases based on business value, feasibility, risk, and repeatability, with a focus on scalable solutions rather than one-offs

• Measure and communicate the value of solutions delivered, including time saved, errors reduced, adoption, reliability, and operational performance

Own LLM Quality, Telemetry & Cost

• Apply production LLM practices: prompt and agent design, guardrails, and evaluation

• Use test sets, quality metrics, and offline or online evaluation methods to improve solution performance over time

• Instrument usage, reliability, and token/credit consumption at the agent and team level

• Use data to improve quality and reduce unnecessary spend (context scoping, summarization, caching, model choice)

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Data and Analytics

• Experience in technical roles such as Forward Deployed Engineer, Solutions Engineer, Integration Engineer, Automation Engineer, or similar roles with direct stakeholder engagement

• Experience designing or supporting AI-enabled solutions in production environments, prompting and system design, agent development, and workflow configuration

• Familiarity with evaluation approaches such as test sets, quality metrics, and iterative improvement loops

• Working knowledge of AI solution patterns such as retrieval-augmented generation, orchestration, model integration, vector-backed retrieval, and human-in-the-loop workflows

• Ability to configure existing connectors to access required data

• Experience integrating enterprise applications using APIs, webhooks, automation tools, or lightweight services

• Familiarity with observability, monitoring, governance, guardrails, and responsible AI controls in enterprise environments

Preferred Experience

• Familiarity with common business systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, ServiceNow, ticketing or ITSM platforms, and CRM or ERP tools

• Hands-on experience with Enterprise GPT platforms (e.g., Glean, Claude) and automation tools (e.g., n8n, Zapier, Make)

• Familiarity with enterprise security concepts such as RBAC, least privilege, SSO, SAML, OAuth, OIDC, and auditability

• Experience working in cross-functional delivery teams that pair solution building with business process transformation, user enablement, and change support

How You Work

• Operate as a builder and long-term advisor, not just an implementer

• Comfortable being embedded with business teams while upholding platform and security standards

• Communicate clearly with executives and non-technical stakeholders about trade-offs, risks, and impact

• Move fast on prototypes, but know when to slow down for risk, security, or cost

• Stay current on the cutting edge of AI - new models, MCP developments, agentic frameworks, and emerging tooling - and bring relevant innovations back to AHEAD

• Continuously scan the business for friction points and unmet needs; show up with ideas, not just execution

• Work effectively as part of a small, embedded team where technical build, business problem framing, and adoption support are closely coordinated

The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings ("OTE") for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate's relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

Why AHEAD: Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

USA Employment Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid company holidays
• Paid time off
• Paid parental and caregiver leave
• Plus more! See benefits for additional details.

Use of AI: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at . You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.