Technical Lead - Forward Deployment Engineer Ai

Tata Consultancy Services Limited; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Tata Consultancy Services Limited in Santa Clara, CA is seeking a Forward Deployment Engineer (FDE) Technical Lead for AI initiatives. The role blends hands-on software engineering, AI/GenAI, data, cloud, integration and platform technologies to solve complex customer problems.

You will work with customer stakeholders, architects and engineering teams to define the approach, build prototypes, and lead solutions through production deployment, while remaining hands-on in coding and debugging.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science or related field.
• Experience developing backend services, APIs and distributed applications.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Java/JavaScript, C++.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Hands-on exposure to LLMs, Generative AI and vector databases.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical discovery sessions with customers to understand problems.
• Translate requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Own end-to-end implementation from discovery to production deployment.
• Design APIs, data flows and integration patterns.
• Remains hands-on with coding, debugging and code reviews.
• Lead rapid prototyping and PoC development.
• Guide engineers across software, AI, data and cloud technologies.
• Review code for quality, security and scalability.
• Diagnose complex production issues and outages.
• Mentor junior FDEs and provide technical guidance.
• Communicate decisions, risks and trade-offs clearly to stakeholders.

Skills

Python

Java/JavaScript

C++

APIs

Distributed systems

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

Git

Testing

Code reviews

Troubleshooting

Prompt engineering

LLM APIs

Vector search

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science

Tools

pgvector

Pinecone

Weaviate

Milvus

AI frameworks

Cloud platforms

Job description

Job Description

Role: Forward Deployment Engineer (FDE) Technical Lead - Artificial Intelligence

Location Options: Santa Clara, CA / Atlanta, GA / Cincinnati, OH / Edison, NJ / Miami, FL / Charlotte, NC / Houston, TX

• Candidates should be comfortable with working onsite at either the client site or TCS Office at one of these locations

Job Description:

The Forward Deployment Engineer (FDE) Technical Lead is a hands-on engineering leader responsible for solving complex problems by combining software engineering, AI/GenAI, data, cloud, integration and platform technologies.

The Technical Lead works directly with customer stakeholders, architects and engineering teams to understand business problems, define the technical approach, rapidly develop prototypes, and lead solutions through engineering integration and production deployment.

Unlike a traditional development lead, the FDE Technical Lead is expected to operate effectively in ambiguous environments, make pragmatic technical decisions, write and review code, troubleshoot complex issues, and take end-to-end ownership of customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead technical discovery sessions to understand customer business problems, existing technology landscape, data, applications and constraints.
• Translate customer requirements and business problems into scalable technical solutions.
• Own the end-to-end technical implementation from discovery and prototyping through production deployment.
• Design and develop application services, APIs, integrations and AI-enabled solutions.
• Remain hands-on with coding, debugging, code reviews and technical troubleshooting.
• Lead rapid prototyping and Proof-of-Concept development to validate solution approaches.
• Define application architecture, APIs, data flows, integration patterns and deployment approaches.
• Guide engineers across software, AI, data, cloud and platform technologies.
• Review code and ensure engineering quality, security, scalability and maintainability.
• Diagnose complex application, data, integration, infrastructure and production issues.
• Drive solutions from prototype to production-ready implementation.
• Mentor junior and graduate FDEs and provide technical support and guidance.
• Communicate technical decisions, trade-offs, risks and recommendations clearly to customer stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science or related field.
• Strong programming skills in Python, Java/JavaScript, C++ or equivalent.
• Experience developing backend services, APIs, and distributed applications.
• Experience processing and transforming structured and /or unstructured data.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platforms: AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Experience in Git, testing frameworks, code reviews and modern software engineering practices.
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting capabilities.
• Hands-on exposure to:
  • Large Language Models and Generative AI application development.
  • LLM APIs and model integration.
  • Prompt engineering and structured outputs.
  • RAG architectures.
  • Embeddings and vector search/vector databases.
  • U nderstanding of AI application performance, security and cost considerations.
  • Integration of AI capabilities into enterprise applications.
• Understanding of production monitoring, logging and observability.

Good to Have

• Experience delivering solutions in customer-facing environments.
• Experience leading small Agile engineering teams.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise GenAI implementations.
• Experience with vector databases such as pgvector, Pinecone, Weaviate, Milivus or similar technologies.
• Experience with frameworks for building AI applications and agents.
• Cloud and/or AI certifications.

Salary Range

$100,000 - $160,000 a year

Desired Candidate Profile

Qualifications

BACHELOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE