The opportunityWe are seeking a hands-on Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to own the end-to-end delivery of AI-native systems into a single client engagement in highly regulated industries such as tax, finance, and risk. As the technical authority and outcome owner within you are accountable for turning ambiguous, high-stakes business problems into working, secure, production-grade solutions under real client constraints.
The Forward Deployed Engineering Manager owns the delivery of solution or infrastructure development services for AI/ML initiatives, applying strong technical capability and hands-on engineering experience. Responsible for the design, development, delivery, and maintenance of AI-enabled solutions or infrastructure while aligning relevant engineering standards and project delivery expectations. Understands business and user requirements and helps translate them into sound technical designs and implementation plans. Contributes to the integration of AI/ML capabilities into broader enterprise solutions, with a focus on quality, scalability, and user impact.
Your Key Responsibilities- Own end-to-end outcome delivery including scoping, tradeoffs, technical direction, and production readiness, taking accountability for the business outcome, not just the code.
- Embed directly with the client to define the real problem and translate ambiguous business needs into an executable technical solution under regulatory and environmental constraints.
- Serve as the primary technical interface and trusted advisor to client stakeholders, managing expectations, communicating tradeoffs, and sustaining the trust that drives adoption.
- Stay hands-on, personally designing and building critical parts of the solution, and diving deep into the client's systems, data, and codebase when the engagement requires it.
- Deploy, adapt, and stabilize solutions in the client environment using supported templates and profiles, owning release readiness and runtime accountability for what the team ships.
- Direct the work of supporting Implementation Engineers and Data Engineers, ensuring integrations, orchestration, and data readiness come together into a coherent, production-grade outcome.
- Ensure every deployment meets safety, integrity, and cost constraints, partnering with control authorities and cyber stakeholders on safe-to-ship decisions for regulated environments.
Skills And Attributes for Success- Strong outcome ownership: able to take accountability for delivering a business result under real-world constraints, not just completing technical tasks.
- Excellent client presence: credible with both technical teams and senior business stakeholders, and able to build trust quickly in high-stakes settings.
- Genuinely hands-on: comfortable diving deep into code, data, and messy legacy systems while still leading the engagement.
- Strong technical judgment in complex, distributed, AI-enabled systems, with the ability to make sound decisions autonomously.
- Effective at communicating complex technical tradeoffs clearly and with evidence to varied audiences (technical / executive).
- Comfortable operating with autonomy in small, senior teams, often solo at a client site.
- Pragmatic mindset: balance ideal design against regulatory, organizational, and environmental realities.
To qualify you must have- 8+ years delivering complex enterprise systems, ideally in regulated or client-facing contexts.
- Hands-on engineering depth across integration-heavy architectures, cloud platforms, and distributed systems.
- Experience with modern AI-enabled application stacks (e.g., agentic systems, orchestration frameworks, LLM-backed services).
- Proven ability to operate in forward-deployed, customer-facing, or solution architecture roles, owning outcomes end to end.
- Demonstrated ability to lead a small technical team while remaining an individual contributor.
- Strong stakeholder-management skills, including managing client expectations under pressure.
- Solid understanding of software delivery lifecycle, quality gates, and production readiness in enterprise settings.
Ideally, you'll also have- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related technical field.
- Experience deploying solutions into client environments (cloud, on-prem, hybrid, or air-gapped).
- Experience working within AI governance, security, or cost controls in production environments.
- Exposure to regulated delivery contexts (e.g., financial services, tax, healthcare, risk platforms).
What we offer youAt EY, we harness our collective strength to empower you to shape your future with confidence through professional growth, personal fulfillment and an inclusive culture. Learn more at ey.com/us/careers.
- We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you'll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job is:
- New York City, Boston, and Washington DC Metro Areas, Washington State, and Southern California offices - $166,900 to $278,100
- Bay Area California offices - $173,800 to $289,700
- All other offices locations in the US, including Sacramento - $139,100 to $254,900
- Individual salaries within these ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.
- Under our flexible vacation policy, you'll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You'll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.
Are you ready to shape your future with confidence? Apply today. - To make the most of your application experience, please limit yourself to two applications within a six-month period.
- EY accepts applications for this position on an on-going basis.
- For those living in California, please click here for additional information.
- At EY, our values set the foundation for how we work and the behaviors we expect of our people. Any misrepresentation or falsification of information or lack of integrity at any point in the recruiting process may result in withdrawal of your candidacy, revocation of an offer or immediate termination of employment.
