Forward Deployed Team Lead (Chicago)

C3.ai, Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 194,000; Full time

Job summary

C3 AI, Inc. is seeking Forward Deployed Team Leads who own a customer end-to-end deployment from design to production.

You will architect data flow, write production code, and drive the deployment roadmap to deliver measurable business value within enterprise environments. You will collaborate with business and technical stakeholders, run customer sessions, and ensure security/compliance across data warehouses, ERP/CRM integrations, and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).

Qualifications

• 6+ years shipping production software with 2+ years in a lead or senior IC role.
• Proficiency in Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java, Go, or C++.
• Experience delivering end-to-end deployments for enterprise customers.
• Deep expertise in at least one vertical (finance, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, or defense).
• Ability to work with business and technical stakeholders at enterprise accounts.

Responsibilities

• Own data flow, integration topology, and deployment architecture across customer infra.
• Write production code—backend services, data pipelines, APIs, integrations.
• Own deployment roadmap; define scope and outcomes per SOW.
• Manage project milestones, risks, and dependencies; escalate when needed.
• Lead customer sessions and provide status updates to executives.
• Deploy from dev to production with data warehouses and ERP/CRM integrations in cloud.
• Ensure platform security and compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, data residency).
• Bridge field learnings back to product to accelerate future deployments.
• Partner with Sales for account growth and renewals.

Skills

Python

JavaScript/TypeScript

Java

Go

C++

CI/CD

Containerization

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science / Software Engineering / Engineering

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Terraform

Snowflake

Databricks

BigQuery

Redshift

Job description

C3 AI (NYSE: AI), is the Enterprise AI application software company. C3 AI delivers a family of fully integrated products including the C3 Agentic AI Platform, an end-to-end platform for developing, deploying, and operating enterprise AI applications, C3 AI applications, a portfolio of industry-specific SaaS enterprise AI applications that enable the digital transformation of organizations globally, and C3 Generative AI, a suite of domain-specific generative AI offerings for the enterprise. Learn more at: C3 AI

Forward Deployed Team Leads are senior technical leads who own a commercial or enterprise customer end-to-end. You'll combine strong technical architecture, hands‑on coding, product ownership, project management, and stakeholder communication-embedding directly with customers to take our product from "design" to "in production."

You'll own one account at a time: scope the workflow with business and technical stakeholders, design the architecture, write the code that closes the gaps, and drive the deployment through to measurable business value.

Responsibilities

• Technical architecture. Own data flow, integration topology, identity model, and deployment architecture across the customer's infrastructure.
• Hands‑on coding. Write production code yourself-backend services, data pipelines, APIs, integrations.
• Product ownership. Own the deployment's roadmap. Execute on the statement of work. Decide what's in scope, what's a one‑off, and what should become product.
• Project management. Own the plan, milestones, risks, and dependencies. When something slips, know first and flag first.
• Stakeholder communication. Run customer working sessions, brief executive sponsors, and write clean status updates that senior stakeholders will actually read.
• Ship into production. Deploy from dev through UAT into production-including integration with customer data warehouses, ERP/CRM systems, and cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Enterprise readiness. Ensure the platform is configured, secured, and monitored to meet enterprise security and compliance requirements (SOC 2, ISO 27001, data residency, etc.).
• Bridge field back to product. Push field learnings into the core platform so the next deployment is faster.
• Account growth and development. Partner with Sales to identify expansion opportunities within the account-surfacing new use cases, supporting renewal conversations, and ensuring successful deployments convert to long‑term customer relationships.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years shipping production software, with 2+ years as a tech lead or senior individual contributor owning delivery end-to-end.
• Strong proficiency in Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java, Go, or C++.
• Demonstrated ownership of systems taken from zero to production in a commercial or enterprise context.
• Bring deep expertise in at least one vertical (financial services, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, or defense) to accelerate time-to-value and credibility with customer stakeholders.
• Experience working directly with business and technical stakeholders at mid-market or enterprise accounts-comfortable in both exec-level conversations and deep technical design sessions.
• Familiarity with enterprise data environments: cloud data warehouses (Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift), REST/GraphQL APIs, and common ERP or CRM platforms.
• Comfort with modern deployment practices: CI/CD, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), cloud-native services, and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform or equivalent).

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience as a tech lead or staff engineer at a SaaS or enterprise software vendor with a forward-deployed or professional services motion.
• Experience with AI/ML platform deployments or data-heavy enterprise applications at scale.
• Familiarity with major cloud environments: AWS, Azure, or GCP, including managed ML/AI services.
• Experience in regulated industries (healthcare/life sciences, manufacturing, energy) where compliance and change management are part of the delivery.
• Proven ability to turn a messy, ambiguous customer problem into a clean, repeatable deployment pattern.

C3 AI provides excellent benefits, a competitive compensation package and generous equity plan.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future company sponsorship.

Illinois Base Pay Range $130,000 — $194,000 USD

C3 AI is proud to be an Equal Opportunity and Aff…