Senior Forward Deployed Engineer, Research & Delivery Innovation

IDC; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

15 vacation days

12 company-paid holidays

6 paid sick days (state-dependent)

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

2 floating holidays

1 volunteer day

401(k) company match

Short-term disability

Life insurance

Parental leave

Job summary

IDC is seeking an experienced software engineer to join the AI, Enterprise Optimization & Automation team in building the AI layer of IDC's future. You will sit with researchers, editors, and senior stakeholders to understand the research chain and implement AI systems that automate it, moving fast and delivering measurable impact from day one.

The role emphasizes autonomy in a complex environment, with hands-on work on AWS Strands, Bedrock, MCP, and Python/REST API development to integrate

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on software engineering delivering real systems.
• Hands-on experience with agentic AI and knowledge-work automation.
• Experience with AWS Strands or comparable agentic frameworks in production.
• Experience building content pipelines for unstructured content ingestion and transformation.

Responsibilities

• Build AI Workers using AWS Strands to automate research chain steps.
• Design content pipelines to ingest, transform, and structure research inputs.
• Automate research workflow steps (Plan, Collect, Analyze, Author, Publish, Advise).
• Develop dynamic work management automations for routing and tracking tasks.
• Own prompt design and evaluation for production AI systems.
• Integrate research tools and publishing systems via APIs and middleware.
• Translate analyst requirements into technical specifications and ship solutions.

Skills

8+ years software engineering

Agentic AI

AWS Strands

Python

REST APIs

Automation engineering

Collaboration with analysts/editors

Tools

AWS Strands

Bedrock

AgentCore

MCP server integration

APIs & middleware

Job description

About The Role & Team

AI, Enterprise Optimization & Automation is building the AI layer of IDC's future. We're transforming IDC from a document-centric research organization to an AI-native, component-based one. The research chain is Plan, Collect, Analyze, Author, Publish, Advise. Right now, analysts own every step. We're automating the parts where AI earns its place, letting analysts apply judgment where it matters most. If you thrive at the intersection of engineering, product, problem-solving, and real business impact, this role puts you at the forefront of one of the most consequential AI transformations at IDC. You will sit with researchers, editors, and senior stakeholders to understand how the research chain actually works, then build the AI systems that automate it. This requires a highly motivated practitioner who moves with speed and precision: writing working software, engaging confidently with both executives and engineers, and delivering measurable impact from day one.

About The Role & Team

AI, Enterprise Optimization & Automation is building the AI layer of IDC's future. We're transforming IDC from a document-centric research organization to an AI-native, component-based one. The research chain is Plan, Collect, Analyze, Author, Publish, Advise. Right now, analysts own every step. We're automating the parts where AI earns its place, letting analysts apply judgment where it matters most. If you thrive at the intersection of engineering, product, problem-solving, and real business impact, this role puts you at the forefront of one of the most consequential AI transformations at IDC. You will sit with researchers, editors, and senior stakeholders to understand how the research chain actually works, then build the AI systems that automate it. This requires a highly motivated practitioner who moves with speed and precision: writing working software, engaging confidently with both executives and engineers, and delivering measurable impact from day one.

What You’ll Do

• Build AI Workers using AWS Strands, autonomous agents that handle discrete steps in the research chain.
• Design and build content pipelines that ingest raw research inputs and transform them into structured, reusable components.
• Automate steps in the research workflow (Plan, Collect, Analyze, Author, Publish, Advise) without breaking the sequencing logic that makes automation safe.
• Build and maintain dynamic work management automations that route, prioritize, and track research tasks.
• Own prompt design and evaluation for production AI systems operating on research content.
• Integrate research tools, content repositories, and publishing systems via APIs and middleware.
• Translate research workflow requirements from analysts and editors into working technical specifications, then ship them.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of hands‑on software engineering. You build and ship real systems.
• Genuine curiosity about agentic AI and knowledge work automation. You think about how reasoning systems handle ambiguous tasks and have strong opinions about where AI earns its place in a workflow.
• Practical experience building with AWS Strands or comparable agentic frameworks in production.
• Experience building content or document processing pipelines, ingestion, transformation, structuring, and delivery of unstructured or semi‑structured content.
• Solid automation engineering fundamentals. You know when to reach for an LLM and when a rule‑based system or a well‑structured script is the right call.
• Practical experience with Amazon Bedrock, AgentCore, and MCP server integration.
• Proficiency in Python and REST APIs, comfortable with webhooks and middleware.
• Ability to work directly with domain experts (analysts, editors, researchers) and translate their process requirements into technical systems.
• Comfort operating with significant autonomy in a complex, dependency‑heavy environment.

Why This Role Stands Out

At IDC, your work helps shape how the world understands technology and where it goes next. You collaborate with curious, high‑caliber colleagues who value rigor, integrity, and shared success. As the premier global provider of trusted technology intelligence, IDC equips business and technology leaders with the evidence they need to make confident decisions. Our insights inform strategy, investment, and innovation across industries and regions. Recognized by IIAR as Analyst Firm of the Year for five consecutive years, IDC sets the standard for credibility and impact. With more than 1,000 analysts worldwide and a truly global perspective, we combine deep expertise with practical relevance. Here, your ideas matter, your voice is heard, and your contributions provide the insights leaders rely on every day. It is meaningful work, backed by a culture that supports growth, collaboration, and long‑term career development with a globally respected brand.

What We Offer

• 15 vacation days (prorated based on start date)
• 12 company‑paid holidays
• 6 paid sick days (prorated based on start date; may vary by state)
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 2 floating holidays (prorated based on start date)
• 1 volunteer day
• 401(k) company match (IDC matches 3% on the first 6% of employee contributions)
• Company‑paid short‑term disability
• Company‑paid life insurance
• Company‑paid parental leave

Compensation Transparency

At IDC, we are committed to fair and equitable pay practices. Employees are compensated equitably for their work, aligned with their skills and experience. Salary and incentive structures are determined through a rigorous process that considers experience, education, certifications, role‑specific requirements, internal equity, and verified U.S. market data from an independent third‑party partner.

The expected total annual compensation, depending on location and experience, is between $150,000 – $215,000, inclusive of base salary and variable compensation.

If this role relocates to a different country, the salary range will be updated to reflect that country's range, rather than a currency conversion of the original range.

Equal Opportunity Employer

IDC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified persons. Employment eligibility verification required. We participate in E‑Verify.

IDC is currently able to employ remote workers in the following states: Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Washington D.C. (DC), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Kansas (KS), Massachusetts (MA), Maryland (MD), Maine (ME), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), Ohio (OH), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Virginia (VA), Vermont (VT), Washington (WA), and Wisconsin (WI).