Lead Forward Deployed Engineer

Optomi; West Palm Beach (FL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Optomi is seeking a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to design and deliver AI-enabled workflows, GenAI applications, and agentic solutions within client environments in Palm Beach, Florida. This senior, hands-on role guides discovery, design, proof of concept, pilot, and production rollout while coordinating with AI leads, architects, and engineering teams.

You will mentor engineers, craft technical blueprints, and ensure reliable integration with enterprise systems, APIs, databases, and data

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, solution engineering, or technical consulting.
• Hands-on experience designing agentic AI, GenAI, LLM, or RAG-based applications.
• Experience gathering requirements, translating business needs into designs.
• Create technical blueprints for AI automation and data movement.
• Integrate AI with enterprise apps, APIs, databases, and data platforms.
• Ownership from proof of concept to production and optimization.
• Experience with testing, evaluation, troubleshooting, and performance tuning.
• Mentoring engineers and establishing reusable patterns and standards.
• Strong client-facing communication across technical and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery sessions to understand client processes, data flows, and automation opportunities.
• Translate requirements into practical AI solution designs and implementation plans.
• Design and build AI-enabled workflows, GenAI applications, and RAG solutions.
• Configure and orchestrate LLM-powered workflows, prompts, and system interactions.
• Integrate AI solutions with enterprise applications, APIs, databases, and data platforms.
• Develop proofs of concept, MVPs, and pilots before production rollout.
• Establish testing strategies for AI output quality, reliability, and performance.
• Troubleshoot application, model, and integration issues throughout delivery.
• Document architectures, deployment procedures, and reusable components.
• Coordinate delivery with AI leads, architects, and client stakeholders.
• Mentor engineers and enable client teams to support delivered solutions.

Skills

Client-facing communication

Mentoring engineers

Solution design

Lead delivery

Stakeholder coordination

AI/GenAI experience

Tools

LLM integration

API integration

Data platforms

Observability tools

AI workflow orchestration

Job description

Overview: We are seeking a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer to design and deliver AI-enabled workflows, GenAI applications, and agentic solutions within client environments. This is a senior, hands-on position responsible for translating business processes, data flows, and operational needs into deployable technical solutions. The engineer will lead delivery from initial discovery and technical design through proof of concept, pilot, production rollout, and stabilization while coordinating with AI leads, architects, stakeholders, and engineering teams. This is a six-month contract-to-hire opportunity based in Palm Beach, Florida, with three days onsite each week.

Requirements

• Extensive experience in software engineering, application development, solution engineering, or technical consulting, with 10 or more years preferred.
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing agentic AI, GenAI, LLM, or RAG-based applications.
• Experience conducting client discovery, gathering technical requirements, assessing workflows, and translating business needs into solution designs.
• Ability to create technical blueprints for AI automation, application integration, data movement, and workflow orchestration.
• Experience integrating AI solutions with enterprise applications, APIs, databases, data platforms, and existing business systems.
• Demonstrated ownership of solutions from proof of concept or prototype through pilot, deployment, production support, and performance optimization.
• Experience with solution testing, LLM output evaluation, troubleshooting, observability, quality assurance, and performance tuning.
• Experience mentoring engineers and establishing reusable technical patterns, libraries, documentation, or engineering standards.
• Strong client-facing communication skills with the ability to work across technical, operational, and business stakeholder groups.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery sessions to understand client processes, systems, data flows, technical constraints, and automation opportunities.
• Translate business and operational requirements into practical AI solution designs and implementation plans.
• Design and build AI-enabled workflows, GenAI applications, RAG solutions, and agentic capabilities.
• Configure and orchestrate LLM-powered workflows, tools, prompts, data inputs, outputs, and system interactions.
• Integrate AI solutions with enterprise applications, APIs, databases, identity services, and data platforms.
• Develop proofs of concept, prototypes, and MVPs before leading pilot execution and production rollout.
• Establish testing strategies for functional quality, AI output accuracy, reliability, security, and performance.
• Troubleshoot application, model, integration, data-flow, and production issues throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Tune solutions based on user behavior, evaluation results, operational feedback, and production performance.
• Document architectures, integration patterns, deployment procedures, reusable components, and engineering standards.
• Coordinate delivery activities with AI leads, architects, engineering teams, and client stakeholders.
• Mentor engineers and enable client teams to support, maintain, and extend delivered solutions.