Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (Artificial Intelligence)
Deepstreamtech
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
19/05/2026
Full time
Information Technology
Telecommunications
Job Description
Requirements
12+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, applied AI, or AI technical product management with at least 4 years in a customer-facing, technical lead position
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Industrial Systems, or a related technical field; advanced degree preferred
Recent experience with modern AI paradigms such as world models, foundation models, and multi-modal language models; agent-based systems and orchestration; and context retrieval and augmentation techniques
Customer-focused, pragmatic, and results-oriented with experience leading cross-functional technical projects or customer engagements
Demonstrated hands-on experience deploying or integrating AI/ML solutions into real-world industrial environments
Ability to identify emerging opportunities for AI in industrial applications
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to embed closely with customer teams and collaborate internally across engineering, product, and commercial teams
(Desirable) Experience working across on-prem, edge, and cloud-connected architectures
(Desirable) Experience in responsible deployment practices, model drift mitigation, privacy-preserving federated learning, and AI governance best practices
(Desirable) Industrial data literacy (time series, SCADA, 3-D models) and experience working with non-ideal, real-world data
(Desirable) Prior work in environments transitioning from traditional on-prem systems to AI-enabled or hybrid architectures
(Desirable) Experience operating within regulated or compliance-driven environments (e.g., energy, safety-critical systems, data privacy)
(Desirable) Experience mentoring or guiding less-experienced engineers
What the job involves
We are hiring a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer, AI to join our team
This hands-on leader will drive the development and deployment of AI solutions while bridging the gap between AI technologies exploration and real-world applications, ensuring solutions are practical, scalable, and impactful
Provide industrial domain expertise to guide AI tool, platform, and roadmap decisions and development
Work directly with internal and external customers in a consultative, problem-solving manner to gather feedback and refine solutions
Drive investigations into the application of advanced AI capabilities to industrial problems
Identify and define industrial use cases for AI applications
Develop AI-enabled demos, prototypes, and proof-of-value solutions for industrial problems
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI capabilities into industrial software systems and implement AI solutions
Evaluate the performance and impact of AI models in operational environments
Support and mentor junior team members
What success looks like:
AI solutions are successfully applied to real industrial problems, not just conceptual designs
Prototypes and deployments demonstrate practical feasibility and measurable impact
Codified learnings, insights, and architectural patterns are captured in references, guides, playbooks, or building blocks that are digestible and actionable for others
Industrial constraints (latency, security, compliance, reliability) are addressed through solid engineering decisions
Strong collaboration in a matrix/incubation environment, contributing as a senior technical practitioner
Feedback from field deployments meaningfully influences AI platform and product direction