Staff - Forward Deployed Engineer

1925 GlaxoSmithKline LLC; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

GSK is seeking a seasoned leader for the Forward Deployed Engineering function within Enterprise AI. You will own strategy and structure, hire and mentor a team of engineers, and establish standards for AI-native practices.

You will engage with business-unit sponsors to land AI use cases and deliver high-value outcomes while remaining technically hands-on on strategic engagements. You will influence vendor strategy, monitor AI research advances, and ensure governance and accountability across

Qualifications

• 12+ years in software and AI/ML engineering with leadership experience.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven track record delivering AI ideas from sketch to working software in customer-facing roles.
• Strong depth in GenAI patterns, agents, multi-agent orchestration, RAG, and evaluation.
• Experience using AI coding agents and designing agentic delivery-automation workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, defining strategy, structure, hiring, and standards.
• Mentor and develop the FDE team with clear milestones and coaching.
• Set standards for AI-native engineering practices, including delivery automation workflows and toolchains.
• Ensure rigorous AI/ML evaluation, experimental design, and model validation across engagements.
• Manage sponsor relationships with Directors and Senior Directors, translating AI use cases into business outcomes.
• Stay hands-on on strategic engagements while building a scalable team.

Skills

AI leadership

GenAI patterns

Agents

MLOps

Deep learning

Python

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Software Eng

Master's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot

Databricks AI Assistant

Job description

Business Introduction

GSK remains committed to achieving bold commercial ambitions for the future. By 2031, we aim to deliver £40 billion in annual sales, leveraging our existing strong performance momentum to significantly increase our positive impact on the health of billions of patients globally. Our Ahead Together strategy is centered on early intervention to prevent and alter the course of disease, thereby protecting people and supporting healthcare systems. Our diverse portfolio consists of vaccines, specialty medicines, and general medicines. Through continuous innovation and a dedicated focus on scientific and technical excellence, we strive to develop and launch new, groundbreaking treatments that address critical health challenges.

Position Summary

GSK's Enterprise AI team builds AI solutions that prove value fast and scale to production. Forward Deployed Engineering is the front of the Enterprise AI delivery pipeline — proving AI ideas with the business through PoCs, PoVs, MVPs, and, where appropriate, first production versions, before handing proven solutions to Solutions Engineering for scale-up — bringing to GSK a model proven by AI-native companies such as Anthropic, Palantir, and OpenAI. You will lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, with direct line management of the FDE team (Lead, Senior, and Forward Deployed Engineers in a flat reporting structure), setting FDE strategy and engagement priorities, owning Director-level business unit sponsor relationships, and representing Enterprise AI on FDE matters to GSK leadership. Enterprise AI's credibility with the business depends on engineers who can land inside business unit problems, prove value quickly, and hand off cleanly; you will build and lead the function that makes this happen. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who keeps their judgment grounded in current AI engineering reality: continuing to contribute technically on the most strategic engagements at the frontier of AI‑augmented engineering, while building a team that delivers at pace and grows toward greater seniority. Humans steer; agents execute.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Forward Deployed Engineering function, owning strategy, structure, hiring, development, and standards, with a clear engagement pipeline that delivers at pace.
• Hire, mentor, and develop the FDE team, creating development paths from G8 through to G5 with clear milestones and active coaching.
• Set the standards for AI‑native engineering practice within the function — agentic delivery‑automation workflows, delivery bot meshes, prompt and pattern libraries, and handoff hygiene — documented and actively used by the team.
• Set the bar for AI, ML, and data science rigor across the function, including evaluation standards, experimental design, and model validation, acting as the final technical authority on modeling approach for strategic engagements.
• Own relationships with Director and Senior Director‑level business unit sponsors, bringing AI use cases to Enterprise AI and sustaining engagement through the delivery cycle as a credible, high‑value partner rather than a vendor.
• Take on the most strategic FDE engagements personally, staying hands‑on on the engagements that set precedents for the function.
• Make and defend portfolio‑level kill/continue decisions across FDE engagements with business unit and Enterprise AI leadership, translating AI engineering possibility into business outcomes.
• Track the frontier of AI/ML research and translate advances into practical guidance for the team.
• Coordinate with Solutions Engineering and Operations Engineering on the delivery pipeline and represent FDE in Enterprise AI leadership forums.
• Influence vendor strategy and tooling choices for AI‑native engineering practice within Enterprise AI.
• Build governance in by design, ensuring the FDE function operates within Code Orange, Responsible AI, and Accountability Report governance from the prototype stage onward, not bolted on afterward.
• Report to Enterprise AI leadership on FDE function performance — engagement pipeline, outcomes, team development, and capacity.

Why You?

Basic Qualification

• 12 or more years of experience in software engineering and AI/ML engineering, with significant time leading senior engineering teams or functions.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Proven track record of taking AI ideas from sketch to working software at speed in customer-facing engineering roles.
• Strong technical depth in GenAI patterns, including agents, multi-agent orchestration, RAG, and evaluation.
• Recognized expertise in AI, ML, and data science — classical ML, deep learning, LLMs and foundation models, statistical and causal inference, and MLOps at scale — with the credibility to evaluate and challenge modeling decisions across a portfolio of engagements.
• Demonstrated daily use of AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or Databricks AI Assistant, as the primary mode of development, going beyond vibe coding, with experience designing agentic delivery‑automation workflows and delivery bot meshes and setting standards for their use across a team.
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and developing senior engineering talent, and building an engineering function's structure, standards, culture, and ways of working.
• Track record of representing engineering functions to senior business stakeholders.

Preferred Qualification

• Prior leadership experience at an AI-native company (Anthropic, Palantir, OpenAI, or similar), such as Head of Forward Deployed Engineering, Director of Solutions, or equivalent.
• Master's degree in computer science or a related field.
• Experience in regulated industries (pharma, healthcare, financial services).
• Experience setting AI engineering standards at organizational #GSK‑LI.

Skills

AI Frameworks, Algorithm Optimization, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNS), Computer Programming, Deep Learning, Feature Engineering, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for Machine Learning, Machine Learning Operations, Microsoft Azure Data and AI, ML Frameworks, Model Evaluation, Model Training, Model Validation, Performance Optimizations, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Benefits Summary

Please visit GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale. People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our cultureof being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people. If you require an accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at GSK, please contact the appropriate Recruitment Staff by emailing us at - [e-mail]. GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

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We are a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organisation where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years. Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it’s also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a place where people feel inspired, encouraged and challenged to be the best they can be. A place where they can be themselves – feeling welcome, valued and included. Where they can keep growing and look after their wellbeing. So, if you share our ambition, join us at this exciting moment in our journey to get Ahead Together. Find out more on our career site.