Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) - Director

Citigroup Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 170,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Citigroup Inc. seeks a senior Forward Deployed Engineering Director to lead a dedicated squad embedded in Citi’s Lines of Business, translating complex banking challenges into production-ready AI agents.

You will drive architectural rigor, evaluation gates, and engineering excellence while partnering with LOB MDs and CIOs across NYC and London. You will oversee 3–5 concurrent AI agent projects, guide sprint planning, and mentor 8 senior engineers, fostering rapid prototyping and high-velocity

Qualifications

• 15+ years of relevant technology experience.
• 8+ years leading engineering squads in Tier-1 banking, top-tier tech, or fintech environments.
• Hands‑on technical understanding of modern AI paradigms, including LLMs, autonomous agents, embeddings, vector search, and MCP.
• Proven track record of managing high‑bandwidth client relationships and delivering complex distributed software systems.
• Demonstrated ability to attract, recruit, develop, and retain elite senior engineering talent.
• Strong working knowledge of financial products, capital markets, wealth management, or enterprise banking operations.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the primary delivery partner to LOB Managing Directors, CIOs, and business product heads across NYC and London hubs.
• Directs sprint planning, resource allocation, technical architecture, and rapid delivery for 3–5 concurrent AI agent projects within the pod.
• Ensures all agentic software adheres to enterprise blueprints, Gateways, and Lakera Guardrails.
• Mentors and coaches a squad of 8 senior Forward Deployed Engineers (AVP–SVP) to maintain high-velocity, technically rigorous delivery.
• Drives integration between autonomous agents and core banking backends, databases, and third-party APIs.

Skills

Leadership

AI/LLMs

Distributed systems

Client relationships

Talent development

Financial products knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Master’s degree preferred

Job description

The Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) Director is a senior management level position responsible for leading and directing a high-performing Forward Deployed Engineering squad embedded directly within Citi’s Lines of Business. The overall objective of this role is to serve as the primary delivery executive partnering with LOB Managing Directors and CIOs to translate complex business challenges into production-ready, enterprise-grade AI agents while enforcing architectural standards, evaluation gates, and engineering excellence.

Responsibilities:

• Serves as the primary delivery partner to Line of Business Managing Directors, CIOs, and business product heads across NYC and London hubs.
• Directs sprint planning, resource allocation, technical architecture, and rapid delivery for 3–5 concurrent AI agent projects within the pod.
• Ensures all agentic software built by the pod strictly adheres to enterprise architectural blueprints, Agentflow evaluation gates, and Lakera Guardrails.
• Manages, mentors, and coaches an embedded squad of 8 senior Forward Deployed Engineers (Assistant Vice President - Senior Vice President), fostering a high-velocity culture of technical rigor, customer empathy, and rapid prototyping.
• Drives the design and implementation of system integrations between autonomous agents and core banking backends, databases, and third‑party APIs.
• Collaborates with the Principal AI Architect Director and TPM Senior Vice President to refine factory delivery playbooks and provide structured feedback to platform teams.
• Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency, as well as effectively supervise the activity of others and create accountability with those who fail to maintain these standards.

Qualifications:

• 15+ years of relevant technology experience, with 8+ years leading engineering squads in Tier-1 banking, top-tier tech, or fintech environments.
• Hands‑on technical understanding of modern AI paradigms, including Large Language Models (LLMs), autonomous agents, embeddings, vector search, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Proven track record of managing high‑bandwidth client relationships and delivering complex distributed software systems into regulated production environments.
• Demonstrated ability to attract, recruit, develop, and retain elite senior engineering talent.
• Strong working knowledge of financial products, capital markets, wealth management, or enterprise banking operations.

Education:

• Bachelor’s/University degree or equivalent experience
• Master’s degree preferred.

Job Family Group

Technology

Job Family

Applications Development

Time Type

Full time

Primary Location

New York New York United States

Primary Location Full Time Salary Range

$170,000.00 - $300,000.00

In addition to salary, Citi’s offerings may also include, for eligible employees, discretionary and formulaic incentive and retention awards. Citi offers competitive employee benefits, including: medical, dental & vision coverage; 401(k); life, accident, and disability insurance; and wellness programs. Citi also offers paid time off packages, including planned time off (vacation), unplanned time off (sick leave), and paid holidays. For additional information regarding Citi employee benefits, please visit citibenefits.com. Available offerings may vary by jurisdiction, job level, and date of hire.

Automated Processing and AI

We use automated processing, including artificial intelligence, for our legitimate business interests (or our reasonable and appropriate business purposes) to identify and align the candidate's skills and abilities with a specific job opening. Additionally, if you so choose, or consent, we can match your skills and abilities to other suitable roles at Citi. Importantly, all our hiring processes and decisions, including determining your suitability for a role, are conducted, checked, and decided by individuals. Our automated processing and AI do not involve relying on automatic or autonomous decision‑making. Please refer to any Jurisdictional Considerations, with specific provisions for your country (where relevant) for further details. Illinois residents – AI Notice and Right

Anticipated Posting Close Date

Nov 30, 2026

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