Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE)

NTT DATA is a trusted global innovator of business and technology services, helping clients innovate, optimize, and transform for success. We strive to hire exceptional, innovative, and passionate individuals who want to grow with us. If you want to be part of an inclusive, adaptable, and forward-thinking organization, apply now.

Overview:

The Forward-Deployed Engineer is a client-facing builder within the AI GTM organization responsible for rapidly creating demos, prototypes, proofs of concept, and MVPs that make AI opportunities tangible for clients and account teams. This role combines hands-on engineering, AI fluency, product thinking, and field presence to translate client problems into working technical concepts using models, agents, data, workflows, integrations, and user experiences.

Key Responsibilities:

• Rapidly build demos, prototypes, proofs of concept, and MVPs that bring AI use cases to life for clients and account teams.
• Translate client problems into working technical concepts using models, agents, data, workflows, APIs, integrations, and user experience patterns.
• Support discovery workshops, executive demos, technical deep dives, proof-of-value sessions, and partner enablement activities.
• Partner with Solution Architects to ensure prototypes align to scalable architecture, delivery paths, security expectations, and operational requirements.
• Work with ecosystem partners to showcase differentiated capabilities across OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Google/Gemini, cloud, data, and enterprise platforms.
• Package prototypes into reusable assets, demo scripts, technical collateral, setup guides, reference architectures, and handoff materials.
• Validate technical feasibility, data dependencies, integration complexity, user experience assumptions, and implementation risks early in the sales cycle.
• Help accelerate opportunity conversion by making AI solutions concrete, credible, and client-specific.
• Contribute lessons learned, reusable code, prompts, agent patterns, and implementation guidance back into the global FDE knowledge base.

Success Measures:

• Pursuit deal volume, measured as total TCV value of AI deals where the FDE supported.
• Pursuit win rate for AI deals where the FDE supported.
• Prototype-to-pipeline conversion, measured by demos, prototypes, or POCs that convert into qualified pipeline, funded POCs, or downstream implementation work.
• Utilization, reuse of technical assets, demo quality, and stakeholder feedback.

Basic Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, AI engineering, data engineering, ML engineering, solution engineering, technical consulting, or related hands-on technical roles.
• 2+ years of experience building or deploying AI, ML, GenAI, LLM, RAG, agentic AI, data science, or automation solutions.
• Hands-on experience with programming languages and frameworks such as Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, FastAPI, Flask, React, LangChain, LlamaIndex, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar technologies.
• Experience integrating APIs, data sources, model providers, workflow tools, and cloud services into working demos or prototypes.
• Working knowledge of responsible AI, security, data handling, privacy, and enterprise deployment considerations.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Google/Gemini, Azure, AWS, GCP, Databricks, Snowflake, vector databases, model registries, and MLOps/LLMOps tooling.
• Experience working directly with clients, sales teams, or product teams to rapidly prototype solutions under ambiguous conditions.
• AI/ML, cloud, data engineering, or software engineering certifications.
• Strong technical curiosity, client empathy, communication, bias for action, collaboration, and ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly.
• Ability to travel as required for client and internal engagements.