Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
About the role
Location
Remote (U.S.)
Other Considerations: U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident required
LTS is seeking a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to provide technical leadership for the design, development, and deployment of AI-powered software solutions that address complex business and mission challenges. This highly customer-facing role combines AI engineering, software architecture, solution delivery, and technical program leadership while remaining hands-on throughout the development lifecycle.
The ideal candidate is an experienced engineering leader who can guide multidisciplinary teams, influence executive stakeholders, and deliver enterprise-scale AI solutions in fast-paced environments. As a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer, you will serve as the primary technical advisor to customers, establish engineering strategy, oversee solution delivery, mentor engineering teams, and help shape LTS's AI engineering capabilities.
What You’ll Do:
Executive Customer Engagement
- Serve as the primary technical advisor for customer engagements, building trusted relationships with executive leadership, technical stakeholders, and business owners.
- Lead technical discovery sessions, solution workshops, and architecture discussions to define customer objectives and implementation strategies.
- Translate business priorities into scalable AI-enabled software solutions and technical roadmaps.
- Advise customers on AI adoption strategies, solution architecture, governance, and operational readiness.
- Communicate complex technical concepts, trade-offs, and implementation risks to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Support business development activities through technical presentations, demonstrations, proof-of-concepts (POCs), proposals, and solution briefings.
Technical Leadership & Delivery
- Lead cross-functional engineering teams responsible for delivering enterprise AI and software solutions.
- Provide technical direction throughout the full software development lifecycle, from architecture through deployment and operational support.
- Guide engineering teams in designing secure, scalable, maintainable, and high-performing software systems.
- Lead architecture reviews, design discussions, sprint planning, technical decision-making, and engineering governance.
- Establish engineering standards, development practices, quality metrics, and delivery processes across engagements.
- Remove technical blockers, manage delivery risks, and ensure successful execution across multiple projects or workstreams.
- Mentor engineers through architecture guidance, code reviews, technical coaching, and career development.
AI Solution Architecture & Engineering
- Architect and oversee the development of AI-enabled applications, intelligent automation solutions, and modern software platforms.
- Lead the design and implementation of solutions leveraging large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI, machine learning, and other emerging AI technologies.
- Guide the design of scalable data pipelines, knowledge retrieval systems, APIs, microservices, and enterprise integrations.